This Is War
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: Takes place eight months after HTTYD2. When an old enemy rises, the Berkians are brought into battle. But they are horribly outnumbered, many of the Hooligan Tribe members either hurt or sick from the battle. When all hope seems lost, the Berkians finally begin to despair (NOT a character death no matter what it sounds like).
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I decided to write this one before doing either "Remember Me" or "It Comes At Night." At this moment, "Remember Me" has more votes, but not many more. When this story is finished, I will either do one or the other, depending on the votes I get. There is a POLL up on my profile with the vote. If you are a guest and can't vote, you could just leave a review with your vote in it. Once again, no pressure. Don't worry about voting; it'll just help me decide which on to do next. If nothing changes, "Remember Me" will be written after this one. And don't fell pressured about voting. :) **

**Anyways, this is a new story I've had on my mind for a while now. It is in Astrid's POV, and contains MAJOY HTTYD2 spoilers. So, if you haven't seen the film and don't want it to be spoiled, don't read this fic. If you don't mind spoilers, then go right ahead. But you have been warned. :) Enjoy the first chapter!**

I laughed wholeheartedly as Toothless licked Hiccup to the point where he fell flat on his back, trying to avoid Toothless' tongue. Hiccup kept pushing the dragon back, saying "Aww, Toothless, you _know _that doesn't wash out!" Of course, Toothless didn't care. He and Hiccup just won the dragon race. I would say he was a bit, eh...thrilled? Excited? Overjoyed? Who knows with that dragon? Who knows with _any _dragon exactly?

I sure don't. Unless the dragon's mad. _THEN _it's pretty obvious. But between Thrilled, Excited and Overjoyed, it's hard to tell.

Since Hiccup became Chief eight months ago, he hadn't exactly had too much free time to spend goofing off with Toothless, so when he was able to participate in the dragon races, it made Toothless so happy.

Okay, maybe that was an understatement. Maybe it wasn't. Who knows? I don't, once again.

When Toothless finally stopped licking Hiccup, he stood up and moved over to me. On his way over, he flung some dragon spit at Toothless, hitting the dragon's snout with it. Toothless shook his head and glared at his rider. I only laughed more.

"This _seriously _doesn't wash out, Astrid," Hiccup said, trying to keep his voice serious although I could tell he was obviously trying to keep from laughing.

"I'll make a note of that," I laughed.

"Easy for you to say," said Hiccup. "Stormfly doesn't do that with you."

"Maybe she respects me," I offered. Stormfly nuzzled me in the side, and I laughed and stroked the dragon's muzzle gently.

"Or, maybe she doesn't like the taste of Astrid in the morning," said Hiccup.

"If that's the case, Toothless obviously _loves _the taste of Hiccup," I ventured.

Hiccup opened his mouth and put up his hand, but then didn't say anything.

"Oh, great!" said Hiccup, facepalming. "Now I'll _never _get that image out of my head."

I laughed again. Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins raced up to us, their dragons trailing behind them, beside them, and in front of them.

"Hiccup!" shouted Fishlegs. "That was a GREAT race! And that thing you did with Toothless in the end...the barrel roll?"

"Yep!" said Hiccup.

"Could you teach it to us?" said Fishlegs. "Like...right now?"

"Sure!" said Hiccup. "Shouldn't take too long."

Valka walked up to him and smiled. Hiccup and I smiled back at her. I still, even after eight months, couldn't believe Valka was Hiccup's mother. It was hard to wrap my brain around, but in an awesome way.

"Could you please tell me if someone needs me, or would you like to come watch?" he asked his mother.

"Oh, sure, I'll watch if you want," said Valka.

She and Hiccup had already formed a tight relationship. It was truly beautiful to behold, honestly. Plus, Valka knew so much about dragons, she helped Hiccup constantly when it came to new tricks and tips.

We mounted our dragons, and then headed off to the academy.

Fishlegs and I ran it most of the time, working together to keep the twins and Snotlout at bay. It wasn't too hard; they've matured a lot in the past five years. They weren't the annoying troublemakers they used to be. Still troublemakers at times, just knowing when enough is enough.

We landed in the academy and dismounted. All besides Hiccup, who remained on Toothless.

"Okay, watch me," said Hiccup. Toothless flew back out of the academy and soared over it, spinning in barrel rolls and sprints at different times. I knew Toothless was just showing off to Cloudjumper.

I realized the two of them had a hilarious relationship: Toothless was the annoying younger brother who just so happened to be in charge, while Cloudjumper was the noble, older brother who tolerated the younger one. It was really funny to watch the two of them interact with each other.

"He sure knows what he's doing on that Night Fury," Valka breathed in awe to no in particular. I didn't know if she wanted me to answer or not, so I just said, "Yeah, he does."

Toothless came back and landed in the academy. Hiccup dismounted and approached us.

"Okie dokie," said Hiccup, clapping his hands together. "Who's up first? Astrid?"

"Sure, why not," I said. "Any tips?" I asked, mounting Stormfly.

"Press yourself low," said Hiccup. "As low as possible. Keep your eyes open, lean in one direction. More than likely the dragon will realize what you want to do, and start spinning."

"How do we stop spinning?" I asked.

"Lean in the opposite direction and balance it out," said Hiccup. "Stormfly's pretty smart. She should get it quickly."

Couldn't argue with that. Stormfly was a pretty intelligent dragon (not as intelligent as Toothless or Cloudjumper). I leaned over the saddle, and Stormfly shot out of the academy.

I had no problem spinning. I whooped as the wind hit my face, blowing my side braid to the back accidently. Ahh, I didn't care at the moment. At that point, I was focusing on hanging on tight enough so I wasn't thrown from the saddle.

Now, I had a little trouble on _not _spinning. When I tried to level out, I ended up spinning in the opposite direction. I tried again only to go back to the old way. It went back and forth that way until I finally managed to stop barrel rolling. When I did, I felt like my stomach had been turned upside down.

We landed back in the academy, and I dismounted shakily.

"You okay?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah yeah, fine," I managed. "Don't ever ask me to do that again."

"Okay, Fishlegs, you're next," said Hiccup.

Poor Meatlung. She couldn't hardly even spin. She couldn't get up to speed, and then when she tried to barrel roll, her legs and body weighed her back to normal.

When she and Fishlegs landed back at the academy about three minutes later, already having given up, Hiccup gave them a reassuring smile.

"It's okay," said Hiccup. "Meatlung's still the best Gronckle around."

Meatlung offered Hiccup a smile as Fishlegs dismounted.

"Okay, Ruff, Tuff, you're-"  
>"WHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOO!" shouted the twins as they jumped on their dragon and rocketed into the sky.<p>

"-up next," Hiccup finished lamely. He shook his head. "Why do I even bother?" he asked me. Trick question, I realized, so I didn't answer it.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut spun recklessly out of control, Barf and Belch's heads wrapping around each other until they spun back to normal, leaving the twins dizzied and dazed on their backs.

The Zippleback landed and Ruffnut and Tuffnut dismounted, eyes half open, their legs wobbly.

"Ah, piece of cake," Tuffnut mumbled before crashing to the ground, Ruffnut copying him. We laughed. It was normal for the twins, so we weren't all like "Oh man, they backed out!?". The twins got up a few moments later, asking each other if they wanted to go again.

Snotlout and Hookfang went next. He had almost the same problem I had, only Hookfang alighted on fire as he spun. Snotlout shrieked for the dragon to land, and of course, he didn't, and just kept spinning off in different directions, never leveling off.

Eventually, Hiccup called up, "Okay, Hookfang, come on back."

Hookfang listened to Hiccup, flew back towards us, and landed in the academy. I supposed Hookfang had a special amount of respect for just Hiccup, since Hiccup had been the first person to train him. You have respect for your first mentor, so to speak.

"Okay, perfect," said Hiccup. "In the most imperfect way possible. Okay, Mom, you want to try it out?"

"Uh...sure, why not?" Valka offered, mounting Cloudjumper. The Stormcutter blarred into the sky.

"She's awesome," Hiccup breathed.

"Well, you have to get it from somewhere," I said.

"That's not what I meant, but okay," he said.

We watched as Valka and Cloudjumper performed the barrel rolls with ease. It made perfect sense why they would be able to; they had been companions for a little over twenty years. They could almost read each others thoughts.

Valka and the Stormcutter headed back and landed at the academy again. Valka dismounted, and Toothless bounded over to Cloudjumper and bounced in circles around him.

There's the Alpha dragon for you: Toothless.

It was hard to believe Toothless was now the Alpha: King of all dragons. It was actually still hard to believe Hiccup was _Chief_ of Berk. It was a little strange at first for us. Our conversations went something like this:

_Hey, Chief. _

_Hiccup will do, Astrid. _

_Okay...Chief Hiccup. _

_Astrid... _

_Mr. Haddock? _

_Stop. Just Hiccup. You're still my friends_.

Something like that. We went back and forth on awkwardness. He was so busy that sometimes he didn't even register what I was saying:

Me: So...how's Toothless been doing?

Hiccup: No, I haven't seen Gobber.

Me: So...what'cha workin' on?

Hiccup: Of course I'm wearing shoes, Astrid.

Me: So...my dragon's on fire.

Hiccup: I guess I'll see you then.

Like I said..._awkward_. But he's pretty much got the whole Chief thing down by now. It's been eight months, after all.

"Okay, so I should be going," said Hiccup.

"Hang on, Hiccup," I said. "I was hoping you'd race me to Itchy Armpit."

"I don't know, Astrid," said Hiccup. "What if someone needs me-"

"You go on, Hiccup," said Valka. "If anyone needs you, we'll try to work it out until you get back. You go on."

"Really?" asked Hiccup. "Thanks!"

Valka smirked as we mounted our dragons and took to the air. Little did I know that that race would change everything.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is my SECOND update today. I have decided to start naming my chapters (as you can see) not on the list of chapters, but right before each chapter begins, if that even makes sense. :) Anyways, shout-outs: **

**Arcaane: Yep, I LOVE Valka. She's the perfect mother for Hiccup. When I saw the preview for HTTYD2, I was a bit worried they'd make her rather...oh, what's the word...lame? Uncool? Well, they surprised me! Valka is INCREDIBLE! You played flute? That's AWESOME! I pay piano, sing, and am currently learning ocarina, which is sort of like a flute, but not. That doesn't make sense, I know. Sorry. :) I'll look at that piano cover for sure! :) **

**Enjoy chapter 2! **

**Chapter 2: Something Is Coming**

"AHA! CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, DRAGON BOY!" I shouted happily as we raced through the clouds.

"Okay, don't call me Dragon Boy, that's just weird!" said Hiccup. "And the expression 'Catch me if you can' is a challenge!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, Lizard Man!" I shouted.

"THAT'S even WORSE than DRAGON BOY!" shouted Hiccup.

"Precisely!" I exclaimed. "Pick which one!"

"Neither," said Hiccup. He raced ahead of me on Toothless.

"Oh, so it's gonna be like THAT, is it?" I shouted.

"I have _no idea _what you're talking about!" Hiccup called.

I leaned over Stormfly and headed towards him, but we weren't gaining. Toothless was just too fast. He was a Night Fury, after all, so I hadn't ever really expected I would be able to catch up to him.

Hiccup came in first, as I suspected he would have. He landed Toothless, and I landed Stormfly beside him. We both dismounted.

"Lizard Man?" Hiccup asked. "Seriously?"

I laughed. "Lizard Man," I said. "Fits you."

"It certainly does _not_," said Hiccup.

Stormfly and Toothless started rolling around, goofing off with each other for no apparent reason. They did it sometimes, even though I had yet to understand why. I guess they were buddies; that's the only explanation to their antics.

Hiccup laughed at the dragons and looked out into the horizon. I watched as his facial expressions changed instantly. I followed his gaze. I squinted as I looked upon something dark, heading in the direction of Berk.

"What in the world...?" Hiccup stuttered.

We both turned and mounted our dragons as quickly as we possibly could. The dragons flew off in the direction of the whatever-it-was.

Part of me wished we never found out.

It was an armada of ships, heading straight for Berk. Toothless and Stormfly flew low to avoid being spotted. I suddenly recognized the ships. And so did Hiccup, apparently, because he instantly turned pale after looking at them.

"Hiccup," I whispered, "do these ships belong to who I think they belong to?"

"They do," said Hiccup, his voice wavering. "This is Drago's army."

It sent chills down my spine to even think of that horrible man. But now seeing his ship, heading in the direction of our home island...this was far worse. Far, far, far worse. I nearly fell off Stormfly.

"They're heading for Berk, Hiccup," I whispered, even though I knew Hiccup already knew exactly where Drago and his army were heading.

"I know," said Hiccup, confirming my thoughts. "Let's go in for a closer look."  
>Funny, I was hoping he'd say the exact opposite.<p>

We blended into the shadows cast by sea stacks. The boats sailed straight in between them without so much as a second glance. They didn't see us, thankfully.

I suddenly realized that Drago wouldn't be able to use dragons to attack us; not when we had the Alpha on our side. Meaning he would use the rest of his army, without dragons. And that was terrible.

I remembered the battle we shared eight months ago. His army had been huge then, and is still huge now.

"Astrid, come on," said Hiccup, breaking me away from my thoughts. "We have to get back and warn Berk."

"Right," I agreed. We turned our dragons around and headed back, careful as to not be spotted. Thankfully, we weren't.

Neither one of us spoke the entire flight home. It didn't take very long to get back. When we landed, both of us dismounted. We saw Gobber, Snotlout and Fishlegs talking, arguing about some sort of saddle design.

"Gobber!" Hiccup shouted, racing over. I followed him closely. "Gobber, you have to call a meeting. Now!" shouted Hiccup.

"Why?" asked Gobber in shock. "What's wrong?"

"I'll explain later," said Hiccup. "Get everyone to the Great Hall. It's an emergency."

With that, Hiccup turned back around and mounted Toothless, probably to go tell everyone else to get to the Great Hall. I mounted Stormfly and helped. I passed Valka, who was at the moment, mounted on Cloudjumper.

"Valka!" I shouted. "Get to the Great Hall! Tell everyone you pass to do the same!"

She didn't question me, which gave me relief. I didn't have time to stand around answering questions. There would be plenty of time for that later.

...

About half an hour later, we were all gathered in the Great Hall. People were speaking in hushed tones, mumbling what they thought was going on.

Listening to each of the ideas they muttered to each other, I couldn't help but feel awful about what really was happening. They just spoke of little things, like "It's about the Terrors again, isn't it?" or "I told you we shouldn't have blasted that fence" or "I didn't do it!" (coming from Snotlout, obviously).

In another moment, Hiccup arrived. He stepped forward and nodded to me. I nodded back and approached, standing beside him in front of the table.

"I am calling out a state of emergency," said Hiccup, calmly, but I hear the uneasiness in his voice. "Drago is returning."

Everyone broke out in whispers and mumbles again.

"How can you be sure?" asked one of the villagers.

"We saw them," said Hiccup. "They're coming this way. They're not too far away, either. They'll surely arrive by daybreak tomorrow."

A gasp of shock ran throughout the crowd.

"I need all the youths of Berk to get to safety," said Hiccup. "Use the abandoned Whispering Death tunnels to hide in. The village elders do the same. I need everyone who is able to fight to prepare themselves for battle."

"This is outrageous!" shouted Eret. "Why would Drago return?" He wasn't questioning Hiccup; he was simply stating an honest question.

"For vengance," said Hiccup. "He hates me, and all of them who follow me. Well, actually most Chiefs I meet hate me...but never mind!" Instantly Alvin and Dagur came to my mind, and I knew that's what Hiccup was talking about when he said "Most Chiefs." "Drago is coming. And boy is he _mad_."

"This...I can't believe this is actually happening!" shouted Gustav. He looked like a mix between younger Hiccup and Snotlout. He was fifteen now, yet he still was the short little boy I knew years ago. "You want us to go into hiding?"

By _"US" _I knew he meant himself and all the other youngsters of Berk.

"Yes," said Hiccup. "Drago and his men will look for the younger soldiers and take them as captives, threatening to kill them if we do anything rash. We can't let that happen."

Gustav fell silent after that.

"THIS IS NOT A JOKE!" Hiccup shouted. "THIS IS DEADLY SERIOUS. Gobber, lead the little ones and elders into the tunnels. Eret, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, help the soldiers suit up. Men who are going to be fighting: collect your weapons and meet up with the twins, Eret and Snotlout at the armory. Everyone else who cannot fight, start collecting provisions. Healers, stick around here. When the battle commences, the wounded will be brought here. Meeting dismissed, go to your posts!"

People filed out of the Great Hall as if it were being attacked. Once the crowd of people was gone, Valka ran up to Hiccup and I. She had been the only one besides Hiccup and myself to remain.

"You sure, Hiccup, that this is Drago we're talking about?" she asked.

No one loathed Drago as much as the two Haddocks. And I didn't blame them; either of them. Drago had used Hiccup's best friend to kill his father; Valka's husband; our Chief. But nothing makes you hate someone more than killing the person who raised you. That was Stoick to Hiccup. And Drago killed him using Toothless.

"Yes, this is Drago," said Hiccup. "Astrid, you go on and help Snotlout and the twins. Mom, come help with some of the dragons. This, is war."


	3. Chapter 3

**This is my THIRD update today. This chapter is shorter than some of my previous ones, but future chapters will be longer, I promise. :) So...shout-outs: **

**amillipede: Yep...awkward exchange. Hiccup and Astrid remind me a little bit of Percy and Annabeth as a whole, only Hiccup's a bit smarter than Percy in my opinion, and Annabeth is smarter than Astrid as well. You know? I think Hiccup and Annabeth would get along great together. :) **

**lorde (Guest): Yeah, I play piano, I sing, learning ocarina, play a little bit of violin as well. I took lessons for violin for years, but then it just wasn't my thing. I still play a little bit, but I am far better at piano than violin. :) I am a HORRIBLE artist! :) I try to draw a person and it turns out looking like a troll. XD! And when I try to draw a troll it just looks like a dog. And when I try to draw a dog it comes out looking like a horse and I just end up like "AAAAAAAAGH!" :) AWESOME that you draw, sing and play piano. Yep, the fic will contain some Hiccstrid later. :) My favorite animated ship to be sure. :D **

**AnimeAngel: THINGS JUST GOT AWESOME! And they'll keep getting crazier and crazier until...oh, wait, right, I can't tell you! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And yeah, Drago'll most likely be in the third movie, because we really didn't see what happened to him in the second (besides the fact that he left with Alpha Bad Tempered). **

**Enjoy the chapter! I am signing out until next update! **

I was Astrid Hofferson, niece of Fearless Finn Hofferson. I wasn't supposed to be scared; I was supposed to be fearless.

But truth be told, I was terrified. Drago was coming back...by daybreak tomorrow, he would be there. We only had until then to prepare the Berkians for war.

It wasn't going to be enough.

I knew as I helped the twins, Snotlout and Eret get the warriors gathered and ready, that we were outnumbered by more than ten to one. Yeah sure, we had dragons, but they had traps. They would capture the dragons, and then we were doomed.

I was just glad Toothless was the Alpha; that way, Drago couldn't pull anymore mind-controlling tricks on the dragons.

It still sent chills up my spine though. The last time we had seen Drago, he had killed our Chief; Hiccup's father. I couldn't help but wonder what the battle would cost us this time.

"Astrid, did you hear me?" asked Snotlout.

I blinked twice. Had he been talking to me the whole time? I shook my head.

Snotlout sighed. "I said, could you go get Hookfang over here," he said. "I need some help collecting different stuff."

I nodded with a quick "Be right back" and then turned, mounted Stormfly, and headed off to the academy where I knew Hookfang would be. After I found the Nightmare, I gave him instructions to get to Snotlout. The dragon took off, and I was just about to follow him, when I saw Valka and Hiccup standing, just barely in sight, behind one of the buildings.

Curious of their conversation I went out of the academy and got as close as I dared to the two Haddocks. I knew it was probably rude of me to be listening in on their conversations, but at this point, I couldn't help it. I needed to know what they were talking about.

"I don't know anything about leading an army to war," I heard Hiccup say, his voice cracking. "I...I don't know what I'm doing. My Dad..._he _knew what he was doing." He stopped. "Why hadn't that blasted plasma kill me instead of him?" he said. I could tell by the thickness of his voice that he was either crying, or desperately near tears.

"Hiccup," I heard Valka, "your father was a great man. He wouldn't have changed his mind; wouldn't have picked another choice. You know that."

"But why...?" said Hiccup. "Why hadn't it been me? Why did he have to save me? Why did he have to...have to..." His voice trailed off. I peaked around the corner to see Valka and him embracing one another.

The scene broke my heart.

After Stoick's death, I had seen a lot of it. But this was eight months later, now seeing it again, and it just made me feel so...so..._helpless_. So _useless. _

"You know he loved you," said Valka.

"I know," said Hiccup, "but I loved him too. Why'd he have to do it? I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve to have him die to save me."

I wanted to race forward and shout something; _anything _to try and make Hiccup think differently, but there was nothing I could have said; nothing I could have done. What happened...happened. It was horrible, but we couldn't change the past.

"I don't think I can," said Hiccup, his voice cracking. "I can't...I don't know...Berk deserves a better Chief than me. I don't know anything about leading an army...I couldn't...I don't...I can't even talk in complete sentences without breaking off."

I wanted to disagree.

"Hiccup," said Valka, "you know you have Berk to support you, too, don't you?"

Hiccup nodded.

"We want to help you," said Valka, "but we can't unless you let us. Okay?"

Hiccup nodded and the two parted their embrace and went off in their separate ways. I hid before I could have been spotted, but neither of them saw me, or even paid me any attention if they did.

I moved out from hiding and went back into the academy to get Stormfly. I mounted her, and then rode back off to help the soldiers.

There was a battle to have begun.


	4. Chapter 4

**This is my FORTH and possibly my last update today. My brother has a doctor's thing, and then we're doing something else this evening away from home, and I don't have a tablet I can use to post stories on (I know. Rats), so yeah. It is possible, however, that I get chapter 5 out, but I don't know. And...nope, no shout-outs to anyone in particular. I would like to shout-out, though, to EVERYONE who reads ANY of my stories. You guys are awesome weather you fav, follow, review or not. I LOVE YOU GUYS! :D Enjoy the chapter, and have a free virtual milkshake! **

Well, all in a days work, as the saying goes. Or...at least I think that's how it goes. Huh. Never mind. Who cares anyway?

I lied awake on my bed, unable to fall asleep. Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Eret and I had just finished helping the soldiers prepare for war. We had armed ourselves with armor and a weapon.

It was uncomfortable sleeping in armor, but it's not like I had the choice. Hiccup suggested each soldier sleep in what they would wear for battle, since we didn't really know what time exactly Drago and his army would arrive.

After hopeless attempt of sleep, I finally got up and left my house. Stormfly was sleeping in her stable, and I decided against waking her. No need to keep her up with me. She would need to be well rested for tomorrow.

Well, so would I, but I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried.

I thought I heard something as I walked through the plaza. Turning around and moving towards the sound, I crashed headlong into Hiccup.

Wait..._Hiccup? _Wasn't he supposed to be sleeping?

By the look on his face, he was asking himself the same question about me.

"What are you doing?" we both whispered harshly in unison. "What?" we both said, once again, in sync.

"I thought you were sleeping," said Hiccup, twiddling his fingers uneasily.

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you," I said.

"I couldn't sleep," said Hiccup.

"Me neither," I dropped my head. I was feeling uneasy about the battle, but I couldn't _imagine _what Hiccup was feeling. He was the Chief of our village; more than that, the man who killed his father was going to be at our doorstep by tomorrow.

"I don't blame you," said Hiccup. "It's been crazy, the past few hours."

"I would think it would be, especially for you," I said.

Hiccup shrugged. "It could be worse," he said. "Well, it could be better, too...but it's not."

"No, it's not," I said. "So what were you doing?"

"I just thought I should do a little circle around Berk, make sure everything's in order," said Hiccup. "I should leave you to do...whatever you were doing."

"Okay," I said, even though I wasn't doing anything really. Part of me wished he would stay, but he was probably running around doing last minute whatevers. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Okay, see you tomorrow," he called out as he turned and bolted in the opposite direction.

I wanted to follow him, keep him company, but he kind of seemed like he wanted to be alone right now. I wouldn't blame him, either; it must have been hard for him.

After a little while more of just walking through the village aimlessly, I decided to head back to my house. This time, sleep came easily. Although my nightmares didn't do me any favors.

In my dream, I saw a battle. It was Drago and his army against the Berkians. Hiccup was facing Drago, Inferno in his hands. Drago was taunting and laughing. Toothless and the other dragons were battling soldiers in the background; they were much too far away though to help Hiccup.

The sky was grey around us, the battlefield covered in mist and grey fog. Berkian healers were working to get the injured inside the Great Hall while managing to not get killed themselves.

I looked over and saw Ruffnut and Tuffnut, fighting side by side, their swords drawn. They were doing remarkably well, considering I had never seen them take anything seriously.

Snotlout was fighting another one of Drago's soldiers. He swiped the blade, the soldier advanced. Snotlout kicked him in the shin, and then knocked him off his feet. The soldier lay on the ground, lifeless.

Fishlegs was in the background with some of the dragons, helping them fight reasonably good, keeping most the soldiers at bay and away from the Berkians. Toothless and the other dragons were whooping and bashing enemy troops away with fireballs and their tails.

Valka was taking on two men at once, but she was doing amazing. I didn't even think she needed anyone to help her.

And then I turned back to Hiccup fighting Drago.

I tried to scream, but your voice never seems to work in a dream. Hiccup fended off Drago, but then Drago swung Inferno out of Hiccup's grip and shoved Hiccup to the ground. He pointed the tip of the blade at Hiccup's stomach and brought it down...

_NO! _I tried to scream. I tried to raise my axe, but it didn't work. I tried to race forward, but I couldn't. _It's a dream..._ I told myself. _It's not real, it's not real, it's not real..._

"HICCUP!" Valka screamed. Drago laughed and turned away to take on another Berkian soldier. Valka completely forgot about the soldiers she was fighting. She was so shocked and horrified. She quickly knocked both soldiers unconscious and raced towards Hiccup.

I tried to do the same, but I couldn't move. I knew somehow it was a dream, but that didn't stop my terror. Valka's hands gently cradled her son's face, looking at his closed eyes and undetermined breathing...

...

I screamed when I woke up the next morning. It was a dream...I had been a dream. But it felt so...so..._real_.

Fishlegs was shaking me awake. It couldn't have been anything after four o'clock in the morning, because it was still dark, but there were one or two sunrays off in the horizon.

"Astrid, come on!" shouted Fishlegs. "Drago's army is here!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about not updating since yesterday afternoon. Been busy with...everything. :) But, no matter, I will now continue my updating spree. This is my FIRST update today (definitely not my last). Glad you all seem to enjoy it. Shout-outs: **

**xFaerieValkyriex: I got your PM and like...wow. :( I completely understand if you are not able to review on every chapter. :) Don't worry about it. And nope, Astrid's dream...NOT GOOD. You got this, Berkians! :) **

**Wanli8970: Ugh. Go away, Drago. No body likes you. XD! Seriously though. TAKE HIM DOWN, HOOLIGANS! TO VICTORY! **

**Arcaane: Yeah, I agree with you entirely. I mean, sometimes I like to think there might be another Night Fury out there, but on the other hand, Toothless being the only one is awesome. Makes him more special. I agree with you. :) **

**amillipede: Oh no. Astrid would NOT appreciate Percy's jokes AT ALL. I think Hiccup and Annabeth would have fun together, though. Lock them in the forge for three days and see what they come up with (hehehe). **

**PuppeteerOllie: Glad you think so! :) **

Nothing like a good old "Drago's army is here!" to get you up in the morning.

That's exactly what got me up.

Fishlegs and I raced out of my house. Fishlegs pointed to the side and shouted "There!" The Berkians were lined up about a hundred feet away from the shore, ten soldiers in each row. Hiccup was standing in front of them, shouting commands and different battle strategies.

Fishlegs and I raced over and joined Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut in the back. When we looked over, we saw Drago's ship approaching.

His fleet was bigger than Berk's entire population.

_Think positive, think positive, think positive_...I whispered over and over to myself, although it felt utterly useless. Thinking positive wouldn't have helped our situation in any way, shape or form.

"Form ranks, hold together," said Hiccup. "It could end either way. Good or bad; life or death; and it will end one way or another. I will give you the odds; by the looks of it, there is no hope."

Very encouraging pep talk, Hiccup.

"But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try!" said Hiccup. "If we go down, we go down fighting!"

Toothless fired a plasma blast into the sky. The rest of the dragons followed their Alpha's lead and fired into the air. I couldn't help but feel inspired, but I could hear the fear in Hiccup's voice. He knew what the odds were. He wasn't ignorant.

"Today we fight!" he shouted.

For someone who has never led an army before, he was doing a pretty good job in my opinion. He's only been Chief eight months, and yet he already seemed to be doing an excellent job.

"Hooligans, remember," said Hiccup. "Remember who you are. _What _we are."

He clicked Inferno. The dragonfire blade sprang to life, the fires piercing through the morning chill.

"If it should end in fire," said Hiccup, "then we should all burn together."

Drago's armada was at the shore. The planks of the ship were lowered, and the soldiers emanated forth, wielding their weapons and screaming their heads off.

"DEATH OR GLORY!" shouted Hiccup.

And we charged.

Now I knew what insanity was. The perfect picture of utter insanity is this: an enemy tribe fighting your tribe, dragons giving areal support (except Toothless, but he was the Alpha, so he was cool enough without being able to fly), and your Chief wielding a blade that _lit on fire_.

I think my crazy meter just peaked.

Hiccup didn't have a crazy meter. Of course he didn't. He invented crazy. If you think you have an idea of what crazy is, just wait until you see _his_ definition. Your idea of crazy is his idea of sane.

The battle as a whole?...Well...that was in a category all by itself.

Hooligan against...whatever Drago called his men. It was truly a remarkable fight; no Berkians had been killed yet, from what I saw. It was a major deal. Or, it would have been, hadn't Drago's men been no different. None of them even appeared hurt.

Now, there were quite a few hurt people on our side, but none of Drago's men seemed to even have a scratch on them yet. At this rate...

...well, let's _not _think about the "At this rate".

We battled for hours. _Hours_. Hours upon hours upon hours on end until it was actually nearing dark. The only light on the battlefield were the reflections of the swords against the moonlight and Inferno, Hiccup's dragon blade. Every now and then there would be a fireball shot from one of the dragons, but they were running out of fire power. And we Hooligans were running out of strength.

Have you ever swordfought someone? Maybe you have, with a friend or something. But what about someone who actually was desperate to kill you? Now, what if you did that non stop for roughly ten hours? That's what each and every Berkian was doing.

No deaths still on our side or Drago's side, but there were many, many who were injured for us. Most of them had already been taken to the Great Hall and were under the care of the healers, but there were still a few who laid on the battlefield.

"ASTRID!" I heard someone familiar shout my name. I turned around and saw Hiccup run towards me, ducking as someone tried to cut him in half, and then skidding to a stop in front of me.

He looked awful. His emerald eyes were as wild as the fire on the sword he wielded. His bangs were slightly singed, a few smudges here and there on his face. His countless freckles stood out in the pale moonlight. He looked pretty much like...well...someone who had been fighting for ten hours without stopping.

I imagined I looked nothing different.

"How you holding up?" he panted. "I haven't seen you since it began and...for a second I thought..."

His voice trailed off. I realized he had been worried that I had been either hurt or...or worse. I wanted to say something encouraging, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "You look terrible."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you're fine," he said. "What was I worried about?"

He looked over his shoulder. Drago was standing a few feet away, not even looking like he would begin to advance any time soon.

"I underestimated your people," said Drago. "But you also underestimate mine. I see your soldiers are tiring. And so are mine."

"What are you proposing?" asked Hiccup.

"A two day cease fire," said Drago. "Do we have a deal?"

I wanted to shout at Hiccup not to do it, but Drago (dare I say it) had a point. There wasn't any way we could have continued fighting even for a few more hours. Hiccup looked like he was torn between collapsing from exhaustion or just running forward and meeting Drago in a fight.

Neither one would have done him any good.

"Fine," said Hiccup. "Two day cease fire. Call off your men, return to your ships, remain there until the cease fire breaks."

"You have my word," said Drago, which really didn't reassure me at all. Hiccup called to the Berkians and dragons to stop fighting because there was a cease fire, and Drago called to his men and said the same thing. Drago and his army returned to their ships and sailed out just far enough so we could still see them, but at the same time weren't afraid of them suddenly changing their minds.

"Okay, good," said Hiccup, turning back to me. "I'm just gonna pass out..."

He fell forward, and I caught him before gently lowering him down the rest of the way. I sat down, keeping him in an upright position with his head resting on my shoulder.

"Hiccup! Astrid!" I heard Valka shout as she ran over to us. She dropped to her knees in front of me and put her hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "What happened?" she asked, trying to keep her calm but at the same time clearly terrified.

"He's fine," I promised. "He's just exhausted."

"M'okay," Hiccup mumbled. "Just give me a minute..."

"Astrid!" shouted Fishlegs as he raced over. "Hiccup! What happened?!"

"I'm fine," said Hiccup. "Just a little tired."

"Okay," said Fishlegs, sighing with relief. "Astrid, we need your help with some of the dragons. They got caught in traps and..."

His voice trailed off as he waited for me to respond. I knew I needed to help Fishlegs, but I didn't want to leave Hiccup.

"You go on, Astrid, I'll stay with him," said Valka, obviously sensing my distress. "When you get the chance, send Toothless over here so I can take Hiccup back to the village."

I nodded as Valka took Hiccup from me and kept him in the same position I had previously held him in. I stood up and followed Fishlegs to help free the dragons.

A two day cease fire.

What luck.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okie dokie, my wonderful readers! This is my SECOND update today, and I hope you are enjoying the story so far. :) Shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: Ugh. And you're going to hate Drago a lot more in just a few chapters. Just sayin'. :) **

**Hope you're all liking it so far. See ya next update! **

We called another meeting at daybreak.

Since the Great Hall was occupied by the wounded Berkian soldiers, we held the meeting at the forge. I was shocked by how many Hooligans had been hurt. If there hadn't been a cease fire, I was sure we'd all be dead.

Hiccup and Valka arrived at the forge shortly after everyone else. Hiccup looked better than the last time I saw him, being last night. He regarded me with a grin and then stepped inside, standing in front of all the remaining soldiers.

Valka stepped and stood right next to me. Hiccup's eyes scanned the crowd and then looked to me as if asking _Are there really this many people left? _I nodded in answer to his unasked question and he frowned. It was surprising for me, too. And I was rarely surprised.

"We have now one day before the cease fire expires," said Hiccup. "From then on, unless there is another cease fire called, we will be fighting. Fighting until we can quite literally fight no longer."

Not exactly the kind of meeting I had in mind, but nonetheless, we payed attention. Hiccup was the smartest out of all of us. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be anywhere right now.

[Okay, Hiccup, you didn't have to agree]

"Gobber," said Hiccup, turning to his former mentor, "status of the youths and elders?"

"Last I checked, they were still in the abandoned tunnels," said Gobber.

"Good," said Hiccup. "Don't let them leave. Ruff, Tuff," said Hiccup, "are you guys any good at stealth?"

"Uh...yeah," said Tuffnut. "Why?"

"We need you to go out and spy on Drago and his men," said Hiccup. "You guys like danger, don't you?"

"YEAH!" shouted the twins in unison, banging their heads together.

"Oookay, I'll never understand why you do that, but anyways," said Hiccup, "Fishlegs, how are we holding up on provisions?"

"Rather well, actually," said Fishlegs. "But it's only been a day, after all."

"How much do we have? How long do we have, moreover?" asked Hiccup.

"Maybe two weeks," answered Fishlegs.

"Okay, no way the battle will last that long," Hiccup mumbled. "Okay, keep collecting provisions just in case. Gobber, I need you to work on some more weaponry. You can never have too much when battling Drago's army. Ruff, Tuff, take a small boat out and spy on enemy forces. See what they have, try to find out what they're planning. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES do you board any of their ships."

"Got it, Chief," said Tuffnut.

"Heed my words, guys, I am serious," said Hiccup. "This is life or death here. So, everyone else, keep preparing yourselves for battle. Meeting closed."

People filed out of the forge, including Hiccup. I followed them out and met Stormfly outside. Toothless bounded up towards his rider and licked him. Hiccup laughed slightly, rubbing his dragon's head.

"You're doing great, Hiccup," I said.

He jumped slightly and turned to me, smiling uncertainly. "Well, thanks anyway, Astrid," he said.

"No, really, I mean it," I said. "You're doing incredible." He sighed heavily. "Look, Hiccup, I know this is harder for you than any of us," I continued. "It's truly obvious. You're not used to the whole idea of being Chief, either...it's only been eight months since..."

"Please don't finish that sentence," he cut me off. "I know what happened eight months ago. Don't think I would forget."

I suddenly felt ignorant. Well _duh _he wouldn't forget what happened eight months ago! And of course he wouldn't want me to talk about it. He himself hated to talk about it. And no one blamed him. No one could blame him.

"I know you're just trying to help, Astrid," said Hiccup, "and I thank you for that. But...Berk needs something better than...this." He gestured to himself.

"Don't say that," I said. "You're exactly what we need right now. And I mean that. I really, really mean that."

He smiled at me. It was genuine. He wasn't just faking it like he had so many times that day.

"Thanks, Astrid," said Hiccup. "It means a lot to me."

...

Ruffnut and Tuffnut returned later than expected. The next day, the cease fire would expire, and we would be forced to war again. It was horrible to even so much as think about, but it was, at the same time, impossible _not _to think about.

After the twins got back, Hiccup called his closest friends together to meet at the academy. Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Valka and I stood beside each of our dragons, listening as the twins recounted all they had learned.

"We didn't hear him planning anything," said Tuffnut.

"Although, I heard one soldier say, there was no way they'd possibly loose, so they're not worried about a plan," said Ruffnut.

Oh, perfect. Our enemies totally know they outnumber by more than ten to one. Incredibly dangerous.

"That's not good," said Hiccup. He sighed. "Look, guys, I called you together because I need to tell you something," he went on. "Drago wants me. He's going to target me. And...if by some chance he meets his mark...I want to know that you guys...you'll keep moving anyway."

"What are you talking about?" asked Valka. "That won't happen."

"I'm just saying...just in case," said Hiccup.

"No way I'll let that happen," I stated. "None of us will."

"Astrid," said Hiccup, "if it comes down to me or you, I need to know you won't give up."

I was shocked by what he was saying, but I knew he wasn't just joking. He was serious about all this. It was terrifying how serious his voice sounded.

He sighed. "We have a chance," he said. "We _always _have a chance. There is _always _hope, no matter the situation. I wanted to make sure you guys know that."

We nodded, but I made a promise to myself silently: it wouldn't happen. I wouldn't let anything happen to Hiccup, no matter what it costed me. I wouldn't. He meant too much to me. To us, moreover.

"Drago will attack again tomorrow," said Hiccup. "And when he does, we have to be ready for him. Fishlegs, go see how the wounded dragons are holding up. Mom, please go ahead with him. Snotlout, I would like you to go to the Great Hall, find out the status of the injured, and then bring word back to me. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you are going to be our spies until further notice. Not right now, though. If we call another cease fire, you guys will go check it out again. Meeting dismissed."

The others turned reluctantly and left on their dragons, leaving just me, Hiccup, Stormfly and Toothless behind.

"What _were_ you talking about, Hiccup?" I asked.

"I'm just taking precautions," said Hiccup.

"Are you hiding something from me?" I asked.

"What?" said Hiccup. "No, of course not!"

"I knew it!" I said. "You're hiding something from me."

"I just said I wasn't," said Hiccup.

"Which pretty much means you are!" I said.

"Astrid," he said, "you have to listen to me. This war...it's not a joke. I am literally just taking a precaution. Drago targeted me the last battle, and he'll target me again. I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about. But I need to know that you guys would be okay getting along without me. Can you promise me that?"

I was at a loss of words, but I managed to nod and whisper, "I promise."

He nodded and smiled. "Hey," he said. "It'll be okay, no matter how it ends. Alright? That's my promise to you. Okay?"

I nodded again. Before I could stop myself, I rushed forward and hugged him. He returned it wholeheartedly.

"Why does it have to be like this?" I asked. "Why does Drago even have to exist?"

"I don't know," said Hiccup. "I don't know."

We stood there, hugging each other in comfort for what felt like hours. After that, we went off to our houses to try and get some sleep at least.

Stormfly sensed my distress as I rode her back to my place. She grunted unhappily and looked at me. I smiled and stroked her head.

"I'm just scared," I told the Nadder. "We...we don't stand a chance against Drago and his men. I know that. Hiccup knows that. I have a feeling that all the Berkians know that."

Stormfly regarded everything I said with a grumble of agreement.

"But we will fight," I said. "That's what we do. Besides, we're vikings. We have stubbornness issues."

Stormfly gawked as if it were hilarious. Or, she was probably gawking because it was _correct_.

"Huh, glad you agree, I suppose," I said. We landed at my house, and I took Stormfly into her stable. Afterwards, I walked into my house and went straight to my room, still not taking off my armor even though it was uncomfortable.

Earlier that day, I had exchanged my old armor for newer armor, but that didn't change the fact it was majorly painful to sleep in. Didn't change the fact I didn't have a choice, either.

I thought about what Hiccup had said.

_I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about, _he told me.

I feel asleep with that on my mind.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, this is my THIRD update today, thanks be to all who read. It's about to get even more crazy. :) Anyways, shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: Read this chapter, and you'll see what I mean. :( **

**Jesusfreak: Yeah, I don't wanna trust Drago, but the Berkians don't really have a choice. Poor, poor Berkians. And I'm immensely glad you like that one-shot I wrote for you. If you have any other suggestions, please go right ahead! I also have a question; I am taking a vote on which story to write next: "Remember Me" (where Hiccup gets amnesia and forgets everything besides losing his leg, making peace with the dragons, and his name) or "It Comes At Night" (where a mysterious dragon comes to Berk and terrible things happen). Please tell me what you think! :) **

**QueenAurora: ...into the night. :) **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Yeah, I'll be keeping you in my prayers! :) And yeah, I try to keep my fanfictions intertwined at least a little bit with actual reality. :) It's cool to know someone notices the little details like that. :D And AAAH, that meeting was like, AAH AAH, WARNING, WARNING, YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE. WARNING. CLIFFHANGER WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN FIVE MINUTES. (BBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!) **

I didn't feel any better about anything the next morning. If anything, I felt worse.

My previous nightmare replayed in my head every time I tried to close my eyes. And when I actually managed to fall asleep, it was so much worse. I slept in without even thinking about it.

As soon as I realized I was late, I jumped out of bed, jumped out my window (not too big a deal) and got Stormfly out of her stable. I mounted her and headed off to where I knew the battle would be continued.

I found the Berkians standing as they had been the day the battle began, only Hiccup wasn't talking to them at the time. He was standing, facing his enemy.

Drago was standing about fifty feet away, his army in no apparent order behind him in a jumble, like the Hooligans were behind Hiccup. Behind the Berkians stood the dragons, Toothless holding his head high, the way the Alpha dragon would. The rest of the dragons were behind him.

I landed Stormfly with the dragons and took my place with the other Berkian soldiers. At that moment, Dragi shouted across the field.

"Chief Hiccup," said Drago, "dragon master. We meet again."

"Yep," said Hiccup. "And don't try to act all mystical or anything, because it won't make a difference, really."

"So be it," said Drago. He turned to his soldiers and called out, "CHARGE!"

The soldiers rushed into battle.

"DEATH OR GLORY, HOOLIGANS!" shouted Hiccup, raising Inferno over his head, the fireblade lighting in the night air. "TO WAR!"

We charged at our already charging enemies, shouting nothing in particular. Our armies met, and it went crazy.

I was so focused on what I was doing, I hadn't even thought about the others in battle. Toothless had lead most of Berk's dragons up against the other tribe, watching out to make sure they didn't blast any of us out of existence.

The only person I constantly checked on was Hiccup, but at the moment, the only indication he gave me that he was there at all was the fireblade of Inferno. But as the war wore on, day broke hours later, and I lost sight of him completely.

A few moments later, he ran to me.

"Astrid!" he shouted. "You have to help Snotlout." He turned and saw Drago approaching him. I saw too, and gasped.

"No, what about you!?" I shouted. "You can't take Drago on on your own!"

"I have to!" shouted Hiccup.

"But you'll be killed!" I said.

"I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about," said Hiccup. "Go."

I turned and ran until I found Snotlout. Truly, he did need my help. He was getting overwhelmed by soldiers.

I was focused on fighting the soldiers coming at me, although I constantly had my eyes open for any sign of Hiccup or the others. My dream suddenly came back to me...and I shuddered at the memory.

_It was just a dream_, I said to myself. _It will never actually happen_.

Little did I know just how wrong I actually was.

_**(This next section is in Normal POV) **_

Valka fought, looking constantly over to her son to make sure he was alright. He was fighting Drago by himself; it was terrifying me to no end, but she couldn't help him. She was fighting my own problems. Quite literally, since at that moment her two problems were two soldiers.

Valka fought them and kept fighting them. They weren't too experienced, but there were two of them.

She looked over at Hiccup and nearly shrieked. Inferno was flung out of his hands, clattering on the ground away from him. Drago shoved Hiccup flat on his back and then lifted his sword, letting the blade hover over Hiccup's abdomen.

"Long live the Chief," he hissed, and then let the blade drop.

"HICCUP!" Valka screamed in horror. Hiccup stopped struggling as Drago brought back his blade and smiled in satisfaction. He laughed as he turned and walked away to face another Berkian.

Valka could think of nothing more than Hiccup. She knocked both soldiers out with ease and raced to her son, collapsing to her knees at his side.

"Hiccup?" she asked, her hands gently holding his face. "HICCUP!"

Hiccup moaned and coughed, opening his eyes halfway to gaze up at his mother. His breath came in rattling gasps and wheezes.

"Hiccup," said Valka, "Hiccup, stay with me. You're going to be alright." She tore off the hem of her garment and applied pressure to his wound. Hiccup gasped in pain and hissed through his teeth.

"I know, I know," said Valka. "Just hang in there."

She looked around frantically for a healer. They were racing around the battlefield, taking the wounded on stretchers back to the village. As soon as Valka saw one, she yelled for her to help.

At first she was worried the healer hadn't heard her shout; it was rather loud in the middle of an immense battle, but the healer had heard. She turned and ran forward, collapsing in front of Hiccup.

"Oh...my..." she breathed, unable to find the words obviously. She turned and looked over her shoulder and shouted to another healer "GET OVER HERE, ARES! NOW!"

The healer, Ares, raced forward and gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth. She quickly raced forward the rest of the way and yanked a thick cloth out of her satchel. Then, she dampened it with water and pressed it to Hiccup's wound.

Hiccup cried out sharply, although it was drowned out by the battle around them. No way someone else heard it; just no way.

Except, maybe, a dragon.

A few moments later, Toothless came bounding towards them, roaring frantically and knocking aside soldiers who (most ignorantly) got in the dragon's way. Toothless skidded to a stop at Hiccup's side and nudged his rider, looking for a response.

Of course, Hiccup crying out in pain wasn't exactly the response the Night Fury was hoping for. Nonetheless, it was, after all, a response, which Toothless accepted, knowing at least Hiccup was alive.

For now.

Valka considered just putting her son on the Night Fury, getting on after him, and then heading to the Great Hall, but they would risk getting shot out of the sky, and they really _could not_ risk that.

Ares turned around and ran off, leaving the first healer to continue pressing the cloth to the wound. Valka kept trying to keep Hiccup relaxed, but it was easier said than done. It didn't help that he kept moaning each time something so much as touched him.

"I got a stretcher!" Ares announced hopefully as she ran back up to them, narrowly avoiding one of Drago's soldiers. The enemy side didn't take much notice in healers; they probably thought "The healers are weak. After we take care of the strong, we'll kill the healers last."

Ares laid the stretched out on the ground. With Valka's and the other healer's help, they managed to lift Hiccup onto it. He had passed out now; completely oblivious to the world.

The healers and Valka raced back to the Great Hall.

_**(Once again in Astrid's POV) **_

I thought I was doing pretty good for myself. Of course, at the moment there wasn't really anyone who seemed entirely intent on fighting me to the death. Most of them knew better than to do that.

The rest of them, though, I couldn't say the same thing about. They were ignorant trying to take me down. Two or three of them ganged up on me at once, and when they did that, well, let's just say Stormfly wasn't too appreciative about it.

I completely forgot about my nightmare for the time being. I knew Hiccup wasn't ignorant, but I couldn't stop thinking about what he'd said:

_I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about. _

One of Drago's men came at me. I parried with him, knocked him off balance long enough to spring away, and then let Stormfly finish him off.

_I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about. _

I turned around right before someone stabbed me. I had just enough time to knock weapons with him, swing the sword out of his grip, and then knock him unconscious with the flat of my axe.

_I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about. _

I couldn't stop thinking about what he had told me. Those words continued to ring in my ears as if he were still saying them right next to me. And then my nightmare a few nights ago...it couldn't have been a coincidence.

But then again, coincidences were quite common sometimes...or...at least I hoped they were.

_I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about. _

It was getting really annoying having that voice in my head, but I couldn't get rid of it. Maybe because I was too focused on the battle to try, or maybe because it helped me clear my thoughts. Hiccup was willing to do anything to protect us, even if it involved getting himself killed in the process.

Was I willing to do the same thing?

I would like to believe I was, but when it really came down to it, I didn't know. I guess I wouldn't know until we came to that situation. Truth be told, I was hoping that the situation would never come up.

I finally had some room to breathe and catch my breath. No more soldiers came after me at that time, deciding to take down weaker targets. I turned and was about to try and find Hiccup when I heard Fishlegs shout from behind me.

"ASTRID!" he shouted. "SOMETHING HAPPENED!"

My blood froze.

_Something happened. _

"_I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about." _

"_I need to know that you guys would be okay getting along without me..."_

"_...I need to know you won't give up." _

I was filled with dread.


	8. Chapter 8

**This is my FORTH update today. Sorry about that last cliffhanger and I apologize in advance for all future ones as well. Enjoy the chapter. Shout-outs:  
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**jtgil: Thanks for understanding. :) Yes! You are Cocoa Man, and I am Cocoa. I like that! I like that a lot! :D And so, what is our next plan for taking down Virtual Chocolate Shop Number 2? :) **

**QueenAurora: Now that you mention it..."I see Fire" IS perfect for HTTYD! That is so crazy! :) Haha! I guess we are on the same thought at the moment! Great authors think alike I suppose. XD! **

**Wanli8970: Well, I wasn't expecting THAT. :) SERIOUSLY though, SOMEONE do that to Drago! Give Hiccup and the Berkians some time to chill out and relax! :) **

**xFaerieValkyriex: No, Hiccup...don't even think about dying. Don't you even think about it. :) Astrid will kill him if he dies. :) **

"ASTRID!" Fishlegs shouted again as he ran up to me.

"What is it, Fishlegs!?" I shouted demandingly, gripping one of his shoulders since the other hand was occupied by my axe.

"It's..." Fishlegs panted, "it's Hiccup."

The world seemed to literally freeze. I recalled one of the many things Hiccup had said to me before the battle: _I'll do everything it takes to protect those I care about. _And then I remembered my nightmare: Inferno had been swung out of his hands, his attacker had advanced, and then Drago lifted his sword and...no. That couldn't have happened. It just couldn't have!

I recalled all that in only a split second, because I really didn't have time to waste on unauthorized flashbacks. I handed Fishlegs my axe with a quick "Hold this" and then ran off to the Great Hall. On any other day, Fishlegs would have shouted "Wait...WHAT!? NO! TAKE IT BACK!" but this wasn't just _any other day_. He seemed to sense my panic, because he took off right where I left off.

The poor soldier, dealing with the wrath of Fishlegs Ingerman. Remind me never to get on Fishlegs' bad side.

I flung open the doors of the Great Hall, wary of how many lied injured inside. The battle had been going on for days, every time someone was injured they had been brought here and checked on by the healers. I still couldn't believe how many people had been hurt during the fight, but I guess I didn't really expect them to be "A-okay", up on their feet shouting "LETS GO AGAIN!" either (except maybe the twins, but they weren't exactly right in the head).

When I located Hiccup, it almost made me want to cry. He was laying on some blankets, breathing heavily, his face extremely pale. His eyes were closed, either because he was exhausted, unconscious, or sleeping. The blanket was brought up to his chest. Valka was sitting beside him, holding one of his hands, her other hand holding a wet cloth to his forehead.

I breathed in a sharp intake of breath as I raced over and fell to my knees beside them, across from Valka. She hardly even acknowledged me.

"What happened?" I breathed in horror.

"He took on Drago alone," said Valka gently, her voice laced with worry and dread. I could obviously understand why.

I didn't need to know anything else at that point. What happened? Drago happened. Nothing more to be said among the matter.

"Where's he injured?" I asked.

"He was stabbed right her," said Valka, not taking her eyes off Hiccup's face. Her hand hovered over Hiccup's stomach, although she didn't make any contact. "It could have been worse, but there was fast moving poison on the blade and...he's sick, on top of being severely injured. I know he has a few broken ribs, even though the healers haven't had a chance to look at him yet. They stopped the bleeding and then got sidetracked, but they told me they'd be back as soon as they could."

I didn't question how she knew about the poison. Valka knew a lot about Drago, I knew that much. It made sense, too, why Drago would poison the blade he used to stab Hiccup with. Start with the Chief, and then take down the rest of the people one by one.

"I th-ought I h-ad him," Hiccup choked out, coughing. I was certain he was unconscious, but he had always been a light sleeper anyway, so it was likely he wouldn't be able to sleep through this.

"Shh," said Valka gently. "Just relax, okay?"

"'kay," Hiccup whimpered.

I felt this sudden urge to race outside, retrieve my axe from Fishlegs, find Drago, and personally whack him upside the head with him. Since when did he think he had the right to do something like this?

At that moment, Snotlout burst into the Great Hall, half dragging a half conscious Ruffnut with him. Apparently, her right leg was broken, because she wasn't putting any weight on it.

"Oh no, not another one," I heard one of the healers say as she crossed over to Ruffnut and helped her lay down. "There's just too many," she said to another healer. "Too many. There shouldn't be this many Hooligan casualties no matter how big the war."

Looking at all the people who laid on different blankets in the Great Hall, I found myself agreeing. It wasn't right. It wasn't right at all. We were barely putting so much as a dent in the enemy troops.

Gobber ran in the Great Hall. _More bad news_, I thought bitterly, but remarkably, he was smiling.

"We have another temporary cease fire!" he announced. "Both armies are regrouping."

I was thankful at least we had a little more time, but that meant so did the enemy side. I was filled once again with hatred and rage.

I heard a heavy sigh come from all the healers.

"We need more time," I heard one of them say to another. "We have a little bit more at least."

"There are more who lay wounded on the battlefield," Snotlout announced. "We've sent out teams to go get them. Prepare yourself. Some injuries are worse than others."

Glancing down at Hiccup, I knew he was right. So far, out of all the injured people in the Great Hall, none looked so bad as the young Berkian Chief. I wanted to yell at the healers to get over here as soon as possible, but they were already overwhelmed. There were only around twenty of them with tons more injured, sick and wounded.

I didn't notice a healer had approached until she knelt down next to me.

"Do you know what happened?" she asked Valka, taking Hiccup's hand and feeling his pulse.

Valka nodded halfway. "I didn't see much," she said, "but I saw enough. He was stabbed, and I know the blade was poisoned, which is the reason for the fever."

"Okay," said the healer, putting the back of her hand up against Hiccup's forehead. She withdrew her hand a few moments later, reached into her satchel and pulled out a small vital of thickly scented liquid. I felt myself feeling slightly drowsy as she opened it, but then shook my head to snap out of it. It smelled almost like Toothless' spit, and I was positive it didn't taste much better.

"What's that?" I asked. As soon as the question left my mouth, another one formed: _Do I really want to know what that is? _

"You don't want to know," replied the healer, answering my unasked question as she forced the foul smelling whatever-it-was down Hiccup's throat. He coughed and choked, but eventually swallowed it.

"Should help the fever," said the healer, "but I don't know everything about this poison."

"Will it kill him?" Valka whispered.

"I...I don't know," the healer replied.

Great. Our Chief was down for the count, quite possibly dying, many of the soldiers were wounded and sick, and on top of that, the cease fire was only temporary.

It was only getting worse and worse and worse.

"What...was _that_?" Hiccup coughed.

"Hey, you told me you'd relax," said Valka softly.

"Th-at's rather h-ard to do," said Hiccup. "What h-appe-ned?"

"You were hurt," said Valka, really not telling him how it was. If she had, she would have said "You were stabbed, poisoned, have a few broken ribs, and you're sick on top of that". "We're taking care of you, though," she promised.

"The battle," Hiccup mumbled. "What happened?"

"We're still fighting, Hiccup," said Valka.

"Then I should go lead them..." Hiccup started, trying to push himself up on his elbows. Valka pushed him back down to keep him from hurting himself even more.

"You can't," said Valka. "Please just stay down."

"I have to lead them," Hiccup murmured, his eyes sliding shut, although I knew by his uneven breathing that he was still awake. "Who else will?"

"I will," I said suddenly. "If you want me to."

"Astrid?" Hiccup breathed. "H-ow long have y-ou been he-re?"

"The whole time," I said. "Hiccup, you're hurt. Bad. You need to rest, okay? Could you do that?"

"I co-ould," said Hiccup, "but the others..."

"Don't worry about the others," I assured. "We'll take care of them. You just need to relax. You've done your part."

"M'kay," Hiccup mumbled. "It does sound good right now, actually."

"Then I won't stop you," I said. Hiccup let his eyes slide shut again and laid back. I knew he was asleep now. I looked to Valka. She was crying, still holding Hiccup's hand in her own. I realized with a start that I had been crying, too.

The healer looked at both of us and then back to her patient. "You'll need to make sure he doesn't even so much as try to get up," she said. "Hang on a minute. I'm going to get some more healers over here and we'll wrap the rest of his wounds."

The healer stood and went off, looking for any available helpers. When she got back with three other healers, she asked Valka and I to step aside while they worked. We didn't need to be told twice, although Valka didn't want to leave Hiccup's side by a long shot.

While the healers worked, Valka pulled me aside.

"I'm scared, Astrid," she said. "He's...he's just so...so...sick, and hurt, and...no one else seemed to have this effect on Drago's poisons besides him, and the healers don't know what to do and..." Her voice trailed off as she turned back to look at the healers. She shook her head and turned back to me. "I can't lose him," said Valka. "Not after Stoick. I can't lose someone else. He's all I have left. He can't...I can't imagine...how'd I ever get along before without him?"

I asked myself the same question quite a few times in the past. How in the world did I _not know _Hiccup for fifteen years? Well, of course, he was the Chief's son, so yeah, I knew him, I just didn't _know-know _him. I didn't know exactly what to say to Valka, to answer her question, but I knew it was sort of a question she was asking herself. I wasn't supposed to answer. But I felt the need to say _something_.

"He'll pull through," I said. "Valka, Hiccup is _the most_ stubbornperson I know. He'll be fine."

But looking back to where he was laying, my mind told me the exact opposite.


	9. Chapter 9

**Wellp, here's update number FIVE. Hope you're all liking it and not too mad at me for all the cliffhangers. Because, as you can tell, I like cliffhangers, and I'm not about to stop. XD! Anyways, shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: I agree. If someone hurt one of my family members or close friends...well...the rest goes without saying. :) **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Ugh, Drago! I just want to...well...I'm not so certain! I just wanna do SOMETHING. Poison. What a treacherous monster. And it gets worse, too. Oops, did I say that out loud? **

**Snowflake: Remind me not to get on your bad side. XD! **

**jtgil: I guess you have a point about "Pranks on Berk." I felt like it was a little rushed, but to be frank, I kind of ran out of ideas. Maybe I'll so a rewrite of it someday! :) **

It was our first meeting without the Haddocks, and it really wasn't hard to see why. Hiccup was too weak and sick to leave where he was at the Great Hall, and Valka, understandably, refused to leave. I hadn't waited around the Hall long enough to hear the healers' reports on Hiccup. More injured kept coming in, and Gobber called the meeting to discuss our next move in the war involving every able warrior, and since I was an able warrior, I had to go.

We met at the forge since the Great Hall was currently being used as a doctors. Most the people who were injured didn't have life-threatening wounds; normally a broken bone or a rather ugly looking gash, but nothing too rash (I wasn't trying to rhyme, I am being deadly serious).

Drago's men each had a certain amount of poison on their blades, so whenever someone was stabbed or cut by one, they normally got sick afterwards, then recovered by the next day (or sometimes in just a few hours). But Hiccup hadn't even shown any signs of getting any better. It had me worrying...

_He's...he's just so...so...sick, and hurt, and...no one else seemed to have this effect on Drago's poisons besides him, and the healers don't know what to do..._ Valka's words came back at me like an arrow, hurting my heart when I thought about it too much. _I can't lose him, _she had said._ Not after Stoick. I can't lose someone else. He's all I have left. _

Now, at that point I had reassured her that he would be fine...but would he, really?

Fishlegs approached me without my knowing and handed me my axe again. He smiled sheepishly.

"Well?" I asked. "Did you use it?"

"You betcha I used it," said Fishlegs. He shook his head. "Is it wrong to feel sorry for an enemy soldier?" he asked.

"Nah, not when he's up against _you_," I smiled; something I hadn't done for a while. Then my mind went back to Hiccup, and the grin vanished. I sighed. It was foggy and musty, the sky grey from clouds that threatened to bring down rain. Fishlegs sat down next to me as we waited for the others to arrive at the forge for the meeting.

"So...you saw him, then, I suppose," said Fishlegs, not bothering to pose it as a question. He knew me well enough to know I wouldn't have not seen him.

I nodded anyway, even though he already knew the answer. "It was awful," I whispered harshly. "I just want to _kill _that Drago for what he did. I just want to see him dead. I want to..." I hadn't realized I was gripping my axe handle so hard my knuckles were white, my fingers red. I loosened my grip for fear I would cut off circulation to them.

"I do too," said Fishlegs. "But we can't. Not until we think of something to do. We...we have to do it without Hiccup."

I didn't have to be told that. I _knew _Hiccup wouldn't be able to fight. Last time I saw him, he couldn't even hardly _talk _without breaking down into a coughing fit or something. Hiccup had given _literally _everything he had against the soldiers. Now it was our turn to do the same.

"We'll work something out," I said. "Not like we have the choice."

Given the choice between death or life, I think it'd be pretty obvious which one I'd choose, but you don't get to _choose _in war. There's no _choosing _in battle whether you live or die. A soldier from the opposite side isn't going to stop right before killing you and ask "Would you like me to decapitate your head, or would you rather remain in one piece?"

You get what I'm saying?

Now, I _knew _that. Fishlegs _knew _that. ALL the Berkians _knew _that. We either lived or died. If there wasn't a chance of death, there wouldn't be any war. No reason for it if we knew for certain we'd all win in the end.

But life isn't like that. War isn't like that. It would _never _be like that.

"Look, Astrid, I...I overheard what you told Hiccup," said Fishlegs, interrupting my wandering thoughts. "You told him you'd lead us." He paused as if waiting for me to clarify. I was still wondering how on _Earth _he'd heard our conversation. "Did you mean it?" asked Fishlegs.

I heard something in his voice I hadn't heard since the battle against Drago and the Hooligans began: Hope. I heard hope in his voice. I hadn't heard it for so long, I almost didn't recognize it. But I did.

"Every word," I promised, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I meant _every single _word of what I said."

After that, more people began arriving at the forge, so Fishlegs and I broke our conversation and joined the others inside.

I was surprised at the small amount of Berkians who were able to fight. Maybe a quarter of the village? It wasn't very many. We were outnumbered. There was no way we would be able to win. Absolutely no way.

Of course I didn't say that outloud. Not after Fishlegs sounded so hopeful about everything. I had to be the hope for the rest of the Berkians. I had to tell them we _did _stand a chance, even though it was quite obvious we didn't.

Everyone began looking around, obviously for Hiccup. I didn't blame them; it was quite apparent some of them hadn't heard about what happened to them.

Well, _someone _had to start the meeting, and I did tell Fishlegs I meant what I said about leading them, so naturally, I spoke up.

"Hiccup was hurt severely in battle," I announced. There were shocked and horrified gasps from among all of them surrounding the forge. They all turned to be and circled in around me, making me feel claustrophobic, but I continued nonetheless.

"He cannot go back out to battle," I went on. "Drago...poisoned him."

Another astonished gasp in unison. Snotlout ran forward and pounded his fist on the table.

"THAT MONSTER!" he shouted. "HOW DARE HE DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO MY COUS-I mean, OUR CHIEF!? DRAGO SHOULD DIE!" On the word "Die", Snotlout smashed his fist against the table again.

The people started shouting yeses in agreement. I found myself agreeing. Do you really blame me much?

"We need to find a strategy," I said. "Tuffnut, does Drago and his men have their own provisions?"

"No," said Tuffnut. I had never really heard him be serious about something much, so when he was, everyone listened. "They're catching fish in the oceans to fry and eat. They do have water of their own, and bread of their own as well."

"Good," I said. Tuffnut was annoying, but he was a great spy. "Gobber, how long will the cease fire last?"

"Three days," said Gobber.

"Okay," I said, "this is what we'll do." I gestured to the right side of the villagers. "You, focus on catching more fish for the entire village. Store it in our storehouse." I gestured to the left side. "You, find every poisonous herb you can think of and mix together some concoctions. Take a small boat out in secret and dump the poisons in the water surrounding Drago and his armada of ships. Return in secret."

"What will that do?" asked one of the younger villagers.

"Poison the water," I explained. "The fish they catch breathe in the water, meaning they also breathe in the poison. Make sure the poison doesn't kill. When Drago and his men catch fish and eat them, they themselves will be poisoned."

"I get it!" shouted Fishlegs. "Give them a taste of their own medicine!"

I hadn't really thought about it that way before, but now that Fishlegs brought it up, why disagree? I suddenly remembered Hiccup, sick and gravely injured, laying in the Great Hall with his mother and tons of healers by his side.

Call me rude, but it would be nice to see one of Drago's men (or Drago himself) like that; sick, wounded, not even able to sit up. Remembering Hiccup's current state only filled me with more hatred. More than ever I wanted to just see each and every one of Drago's soldiers pay for what they had done.

"Yeah!" I agreed wholeheartedly. "Hopefully the poison from the fish will keep most of Drago's soldiers at bay long enough for us to take advantage. As long as we catch enough food for the rest of us, I don't believe we'll have much of a problem."

"But we are currently on a cease fire!" said Eret. "If Drago finds out what we're doing, he'll cancel this and all other future cease fires."

"Right," I said. "Don't get caught."


	10. Chapter 10

**Soooo...welcome to the insanity! :) This is my FIRST update today, sorry for taking so long. Anywho, shout-outs: **

**Guest: Yep, geniuses! :D **

**Jesusfreak: Haha! Yeah, I know what you mean. And I got the vote! "It Comes At Night" and "Remember Me" are battling for first place. :) When I finish this fanfic, I'm going to write an A/N with the final results. :) And no, I don't have a tumblr account, but I have a pinterest account (my name on there is the same one as on here). :) **

**Wanli8970: AAAAAAHHH! I'LL KILL YOU, DRAGO! YOU BASTARD! TAKE THEM DOWN, HOOLIGANS! ALL OF THEM! SAVE YOUR CHIEF! :D **

**freyathefearless: The picture is from a new short film called "Dawn of the Dragon Racers." I haven't seen it yet, though. I just know where the profile pic came from. :) Yep, not too late! Your votes have been filed in! At the end of this fic, I will write an A/N with the FINAL results, along with the story I will write next. So I guess we'll have to wait and see which one wins! :) **

**AnimeAngel: Aha! Brilliant idea! I'll add that to my list of suggestions. I'm thinking it would be called "Guilt", but if you have a set title in mind, go ahead. And...OOOOOH! LATTE! *takes it gratefully* I LOVE LATTES! :D XD Free virtual popcorn for you! *tosses you bag* **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Worse worse worse worse worse...**

After the meeting broke on that positive note, Snotlout pulled me aside, which was strange for him. After making sure no one else was looking, he addressed me.

"Look, Astrid," he started, "I wanted to say thank you."

Okay. Now that was _really _strange. "What do you mean?" I ventured.

"I mean," said Snotlout, "for taking charge. For...for leading us. We need a leader."

"We all do," I said, "but don't thank me yet."

"I have to," said Snotlout. "I'm...I'm...ahh, don't tell Hiccup I said this."

I could only imagine how much Hiccup would _not care _about what Snotlout had to say right now. He could barely keep his eyes open for more than fifteen seconds at this present time.

"But I'm terrified," said Snotlout. "I know it sounds strange, coming from me."

"Um...yeah, it kinda does, actually," I said.

"Well, I really needed someone just to show leadership to us," said Snotlout. "What you said...we all needed that at that point. We needed to see someone lead us in a calm fashion..."

"I am anything BUT calm right now," I admitted.

"Of course you're not," said Snotlout. "You're still human. We're _all _on edge. All terrified. All anything but calm. But the fact that you stepped up and didn't show it...that's what we needed." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Thanks," he said, and then, before I could say another word, turned and ran off to help make some poisons.

I was flabberghasted. That was _weird_. But I guess Snotlout really did care, of course. After all, he was still human, too.

I headed off to the Great Hall just to see how Hiccup was doing, and to talk to Valka a little bit, tell her of our plans, ask her for some poisoning tips. When I opened the door, I decided maybe it would be a good idea NOT to talk anymore about poisons.

Nothing changed much about the scene, except now there was only one healer instead of multiple ones. She was sitting across from Valka, Hiccup laying pale, feverish, shivering and unconscious in between them.

"Nothing's working," I heard a healer say to Valka. "The poison's killing him. I don't think he's going to make it..."

"Don't talk like that!" said Valka. Although I knew it was meant to come out strong and snappy, it came out as a pleading whimper. "Please don't talk like that," Valka begged, choking on her tears.

The healer looked to me. She knew Hiccup and I were friends, of course (well, everyone did). She stood up quietly and made her way over to me.

"How...how is he?" I managed.

"Bad," said the healer, glancing back at Valka and her son before turning back to me. "He's not going to make it," she said in a whisper. "The poison's too strong. There's...there's nothing we can do."

I gasped, tears spilling down my cheeks. "Nothing?" I asked. "I _refuse _to believe there's _nothing _we can do."

"Miss Hofferson, are you an expert at healing?" she asked me.

I wanted to say "YES I AM AND I KNOW HE'LL LIVE", but it would have been a lie.

In defeat, I shook my head, still crying.

"I know you're not," the healer said softly. "But I am. The poison, it's...it's unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"Then how can you say for certain he won't live?" I almost snarled on accident.

"Because I am a healer," she replied coolly. "I _know_ these things."

"You don't know everything," I hissed. "You can't say that you do."

"I'm not claiming I do," said the healer.

"Then stop trying to," I said. "There could be a cure."

"Miss Hofferson, even if we do find a cure, he is still gravely injured," said the healer, her tone starting to raise in anger. "The stab wound is infected, and still hasn't sealed yet. If by some miracle there was a cure for this poison, it's only one of our many problems."

"There has to be something," I said. "I won't stand around and let you tell me there is no hope."

"There _IS _no hope!" said the healer as loud as she dared.

"THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!" I shouted on accident. Many of the healers turned to me. Valka hadn't, but I could tell she was listening.

The healer stepped forward. For about two seconds, I was afraid I had stepped over the line. But then those two seconds passed, and I was filled with rage towards the healer.

"Really, Astrid!?" she hissed, jabbing a finger at me. "WHERE WAS HOPE, every time another Hooligan was hurt!? WHERE WAS HOPE when our leader was STABBED, and POISONED!? WHERE WAS HOPE, when EACH and EVERY cease fire we formed temporarily broke!? WHERE WAS HOPE THEN, ASTRID HOFFERSON!?

"MAYBE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE, TO BRING IT TO LIGHT!" I shouted. One of the healers shouted "YEAH!", clapped her hands once, and then quickly shushed herself when she realized everyone was staring at her. "Did you ever think of that?" I asked in a much colder and harsher tone.

With that, I turned on my heels and stormed out of the Great Hall.

I heard footsteps follow me out, and I expected it was going to be the healer coming to give me a snappy reply, but instead, it was Valka.

Before I could ask her what she was doing, she tossed her arms around me and hugged me. I didn't know what I said to make her do that, but I hugged her back nonetheless. When we pulled back, I decided to ask what had gotten into her.

"What was that for?" I asked, my tone sweet and in awe.

"I needed that," said Valka. "I was just ready to...to say there wasn't any hope." She frowned, tears once again falling down her face. "But no matter what happens," said Valka, "there is _always _hope. You were right. I'm not getting my hopes up..." she went on, hesitating. "...but it's reassuring to know that not everyone has given up."

"As soon as the battle's over," I asked, "please, someone fire that healer."

Valka offered a weak smile before heading back into the Great Hall. As she did, the healer who was arguing with me stepped out, glared at me, and then stormed off in the opposite direction.

I didn't even ask where she was going. Since she was out, I thought maybe I could go see Hiccup.

And so, naturally, that's exactly what I did.


	11. Chapter 11

**This is my SECOND update today (probably not my last, either). Hope you guys aren't too mad about the cliffhangers. :) Shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: I did that on purpose. You're supposed to hate that particular healer. And I think it worked rather fine, thank you. :D **

**QueenAurora: I don't know how some people watched it...I think they found some crazy internet download thingy, but I sure haven't found it yet! COME ON, WE'RE DYING HERE! XD! And YES, I LOVE that look for Hiccup! It's great! :) From what I've heard, Dawn of the Dragon Racers is going to be released when HTTYD2 comes out on DVD, sort of like what they did for "Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon." It was like an aditional add-on. But I don't know, so please don't quote me! XD! **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Nope nope nope nope nope nope...worse worse worse worse worse worse...nope nope nope nope...**

Please don't think I was being too hard on the healer. All in all, she needed that little pep talk. You don't just go around telling people their Chief has no hope of living. Who does that, seriously?

I would have to talk to Hiccup about getting rid of her as soon as the war subsided. Right now, we needed every healer we had. There were tons more people coming in from the battlefield, some injuries worse than others. The Great Hall was bustling with healers, racing from one patient to the next, mumbling to each other in hushed tones, even though sometimes I caught what they were saying.

All the injured ones who could leave had to leave; the Great Hall was nearly packed with the sick and wounded. It was so horrible to behold; too horrible to even imagine, and yet it was happening. Ruffnut came out with only a broken leg, but she couldn't fight with crutches. Well, actually...she probably could. She'd probably use them as clubs.

But, nonetheless, we weren't letting her fight. We couldn't risk her either getting more hurt, or even killed. Drago's men weren't the least bit merciful. They would kill her while she was down.

I hesitated for a few moments before opening the door to the Great Hall and slipping inside. I ignored the glances given to me by healers and instantly made my way back over to Valka and Hiccup. Valka was trying to get Hiccup to drink some water, and Hiccup was just barely conscious.

He looked even worse than before, if that was even possible. He was shivering, covered in sweat, and pale. His breath rattling uneasily, worrying both me and Valka. I remembered what the healer had said about Hiccup's wound being infected...it shot a spike of fear through my heart. The cloth was still on his forehead; he wasn't getting better, which meant he could only be getting worse.

I knelt in front of them and shot Valka a quick glance. Valka didn't look back at me as she lowered the water cup and set it to the side.

Valka looked exhausted. She'd probably sat up with Hiccup ever since he was injured, which was a while ago.

"Valka, you can go get some rest," I said. "I'll stay with Hiccup."

Valka looked up at me, and I could tell she wanted to protest, but I spoke up again before she could.

"It'll do you good," I said. "If something happens, I'll get Stormfly to get you."

Valka sighed in defeat and stood up. She knew I was right.

"Anything," said Valka. "If _anything _happens, you come get me. Clear?"

It wasn't a question; it was a statement. But, nonetheless, I answered with a nod and a smooth "Clear" before Valka turned and exited the Great Hall.

I looked down at Hiccup and felt the urge to cry, but I held my tears back for his sake. He was conscious, if just barely. I didn't want to worry him or something. That was the last thing we needed.

I gently took the cloth off his forehead and pressed my hand to his forehead. He still had a high fever, so I re-wet the rag and placed it back. Hiccup moaned slightly and opened his eyes half-way, looking up at me.

"Hi," he whimpered, coughing once afterwards.

"Hi," I replied.

_Wow. That sounded lame_, I thought. _You can say something better that that_.

"How you feeling?" I asked.

"Like I've been mauled over by a Night Fury and forced to drink three cups of yaknog, but other than that, fine," he said. I could tell he was trying to put some humor into his words, but if I didn't know him personally, I would have thought he was just giving me a literal metaphor.

And about the yaknog? Well, I finally tasted some of it and...let's just say, it wasn't something I would like to have repeated. Yaknog was _awful_. And that was the least I could say.

[Yeah, stop agreeing with me, Hiccup. Not my fault I can't make a tasty beverage]

"I'm sorry," I said. "I can't help but feel this is my fault."

"Wh-what in the world *cough* would l-lead you to believe that this was y-your fault?" he asked me.

"I could have...I don't know," I said.

"Precisely," said Hiccup, coughing again afterwards. "There was nothing you co-could have done t-to prevent all t-this."

His eyes slid shut, although I realized he was still conscious.

I didn't know what else to say, so I just asked him a question. "Do you want water, or something?" I asked.

"Not at the moment," said Hiccup. "M-maybe later, or som'hin. And th-thanks, Astrid."

His breathing evened out, and I realized he was sleeping. I felt so bad for him it was incredible. Why would someone do this? Who did Drago think he was? He didn't have the right to do something like this to Hiccup. I didn't care that he outnumbered us. He deserved to die in some horrible way.

A few hours later, nothing changed. Valka came back and took over, and I left to see how the poisons were coming along. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were preparing a small boat to take them out in and dump them in the sea with, even though Ruffnut still had her crutches and broken leg. Snotlout and Fishlegs were loading the boat with buckets of sickly smelling, thick, green liquid.

I didn't dare ask what they used to create such a horrid smelling thing.

"How are you guys coming along?" I asked.

"Great, only problem is, Ruffnut's not going to go out there with Tuffnut," said Snotlout. "We wouldn't allow it."

"Ugh, I _told _you guys, it's just a broken leg," said Ruffnut. "It'll be _fine_."

"But if you guys were attacked, you wouldn't be able to fight," Fishlegs pointed out.

"Ahh, that's what the crutches are for!" she exclaimed, dropping one crutch and holding the other one like she was ready to hit a ball with it.

See? I told you she'd use her crutches.

"Nope, sorry sis," said Tuffnut. "You're not coming. You can't defend yourself properly."

"Well, someone has to go out," said Snotlout.

"Might as well be me," I offered. Everyone turned to me. "What?" I asked. "Who else is going to go? Who better to protect Tuffnut than me?"

"She has a point," said Fishlegs. "I guess you really are our best option."

"So, when do we leave?" I asked.

"Tonight, after the sun's gone down," said Snotlout. "We can't risk any of Drago's men seeing this ship. If they do...bye-bye victory, Hooligans."

I wished he hadn't said that.

"Okay, so nightfall," I said. "Let's just hope there isn't a full moon."

...

There was, of course, a full moon.

Perfect, I thought bitterly. If any single one of Drago's men spotted either me or Tuffnut, the cease fire would be destroyed, and we would be killed.

I hadn't spoken of my true reasons for volunteering to go with Tuffnut. Well, of course, I was the logical choice, but it was much, much more than just logic. This, was personal.

Drago had hurt Hiccup. _My _Hiccup. My friend. My leader. My pal. My everything. I was going to board Drago's ship, find the cure for the poison, and then leave. If there wasn't a cure, I planned to make sure Drago never forgot what he did.

There were so many things about Hiccup I missed seeing the past few days: his smile, his laugh, his leadership, his friendship, his humor that lightened every situation, that fiendish smirk he got whenever testing a new idea, his brilliant plans, his amazing mind, his incredible kindness. Pretty much everything.  
>And if I didn't get that cure, all of that was going to be never seen again.<p>

Tuffnut and I boarded our boat, looking back one last time at Snotlout, Ruffnut and Fishlegs.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" asked Fishlegs.

"Of course!" I said. "Look who you're talking to!"

"That's what worries me," said Fishlegs. "Look, Astrid, don't do anything rash."

"Why on Earth would you think that?" I asked sweetly. _Oh no, does he know what I'm planning? _I thought to myself.

"Well, okay then," said Fishlegs. "But be careful."

"Sure," I said.

Tuffnut and I untied the boat from the docks, manded the two oars, and pushed it away from the shore. We were out to sea.


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, this is my THIRD update today. Glad you all seem to be enjoying it so far. It's about to get REAL REAL soon, so don't worry. :) Shout-outs: **

**AnimeAngel: Seriously. Someone fire that healer! Ugh. And yep, don't get on Astrid's bad side. No good. No good at all. XD! And have some more virtual popcorn if you like, and I'll even throw in a free virtual can of your favorite soda! :D **

**Wanli8970: Tension is building...*squeals with anticipation* I can't wait to see how this all fills out! :D **

**xFaerieValkyriex: That'd be cool, but since this is in Astrid's POV, that'd be hard to do. Future fanficiton, though! :D And about the healer...let's just see if Toothless is hungry. XD! **

**HideousZippleback: Oh, wow. You read chapter 10 and are already interested in the rest of the story? THAT'S AWESOME! :D Thank you for your encouraging review! Reviews make me so happy! :) **

The sound made by the oars whenever they emerged into the water was almost painful to listen to. Each time the oars dropped into the sea, I was constantly worried we would hear a "There they are!" and then get attacked by some of Drago's barbarians.

Nonetheless, I was doing this for Hiccup and Berk. Hiccup had given literally everything he had in the war, and now it was my turn to do the same.

But was I ready?

I had brought a grappling hook secretly. I would throw it to the top of the ship and then climb aboard and find that cure, no matter what it took to get it. And then Tuffnut and I would poison the water and get us an advantage.

It was the perfect plan.

If...if Hiccup didn't die before hand.

_Wow_, I thought to myself. I couldn't believe there was actually a high chance Hiccup wouldn't survive. Just from what Valka told me, it sounded pretty bad, and the fact that the healer clearly stated he wasn't going to live was even worse.

But I would try. I would try. I would try. And I would succeed. I wouldn't fail. I wouldn't give up.

Tuffnut and I continued to row towards the enemy ships, taking great heed not to get spotted. Apparently, no one was on any of the decks. There was one ship larger than the others; Drago's ship, where he and his best men were.

We sailed right up to the ship, just a few feet away from it. It wasn't too high up...I could quite possibly throw the grappling hook and make it...

"Help me out, would you?" asked Tuffnut in annoyance.

"Oh, right," I said dumbly, taking a bucket and gently dumping it overboard. I almost retched at the smell of it. If the poison itself didn't kill Drago's men, the _stench _of itcertainly would.

After we dumped the buckets of poison overboard, it was time for me to make my move. Before Tuffnut decided to head back to Berk, I whipped out the grappling hook and swung it. Then, I tossed it up. I made it on the first try.

I yanked on the rope to make sure it was secure. To my delight, it held steady. Perfect. This was going just per...

"What are you doing!?" Tuffnut whispered to me harshly.

"I'm finding the cure for the poison, and you're not stopping me," I said stubbornly.

"I won't," said Tuffnut. "But I'm coming with you."

"No, you have to stay with the boat," I said. "I'm doing this for Hiccup. It's personal."

"Maybe it's personal for me, too!" said Tuffnut. "One of Drago's men did hurt my sister, after all."

I wanted to protest, but he had a point. Tuffnut smirked and dropped the anchor overboard.

"Well?" he asked. "Are you going to start heading up there, or not?"

I turned back to the rope and began climbing up it as if I were climbing up a rock wall. I pressed my feet to the side of Drago's ship and kept the rope wrapped firmly around my hands. I was like walking up a wall, almost.

When I got to the top, I made sure the deck was clear. Relieved to see that it was, I pulled myself over the side of the ship and tossed the rope back down to Tuffnut. While he was climbing, I took a look around.

The deck was covered in ropes and barrels filled with probably water. Tuffnut did say they had water as part of their provisions. I also saw baskets filled with bread, but I didn't see any fish on the deck.

_Good, _I thought. _No fish here. At least I know there's a chance that poison will work_.

The mast of the ship was vast.

[Stop giggling, Hiccup, I'm not trying to rhyme]

It was about as thick as a giant redwood tree and not really much shorter than one. It was smoothly done, but at the same time, rugged looking as if it had been in service for generations.

The sail was solid white and so thick it would probably take a sword to cut through. It made me feel suddenly small and helpless.

Tuffnut pulled himself onto the deck, stood up, and walked over to me.

"What now?" he whispered, but at that moment, the hatch leading below deck opened, letting light stream onto the deck.

"We hide," I said simply. Tuffnut and I raced over and hid behind some of the barrels, hardly even daring to breathe. We heard the footsteps of one of Drago's soldiers, getting closer, and closer, and closer. And then I realized it wasn't just one set of footsteps, but two.

"Ahh, I told ya it was nothin'!" said one soldier.

"Huh, I thought I heard something," said the second soldier.

"Eh, quit yer blabberin'!" snapped the first soldier. "If we don' get bac' to the meetin', Drago won't allow us to fight those pesky Berkians."

"Oh, right, then let's go," said the second soldier.

I looked to Tuffnut, and we exchanged knowing glances. We would have to infiltrate that meeting, see what Drago was planning, try to see what we could learn and get back to Berk with.

The footsteps started back up again, and then the light emanated from the hatch being opened once more. The sound of footsteps descending stairs reached our ears, and then the light faded.

Tuffnut and I emerged from our hiding place and raced over. I pressed my ear to the floorboards, but I couldn't hear anything.

"We have to go in there," I said. "It could be the only chance we have."

With trembling fingers, Tuffnut and I opened the hatch, and slipped below, closing it silently behind us.

In front of us spread a well lit stairway leading to the below deck of the vast ship. Tuffnut and I walked down as quietly as we could, wary if someone were to spot us. When the staircase ended, I peaked behind the wall and saw Drago and a bunch of his men standing around a wooden table. On the table sat a lit oil lamp, map, charcoal pencil, and dagger.

I quickly pressed myself and Tuffnut against the wall. We couldn't risk being spotted.

"Alright, listen up," said Drago. Oh man, his voice was _awful_. I hated listening to it, especially when he was mad. "As soon as the cease fire ends, we will spread out in different groups around Berk, surrounding it. We will divide into four even groups, each group taking one compass point around the island."

"Bastard," I hissed.

"Shh," said Tuffnut.

"Sir, what about the Chief of the Berkians?" asked one of the soldiers. "What was his name? Sneeze?"

"Hiccup," Drago corrected. He let our a wry laugh that pounded against my eardrums. "Don't worry about him. By the time the cease fire is over, he'll be dead."

"No," I whispered. "No no no no no..."

"But sir, how can you be so sure?" asked someone that looked like he would be Drago's second in command by the way his armor was perfectly polished and one not.

"The blade I used was poisoned," said Drago. "Fast moving poison. He'll be dead by tomorrow, or possibly later tonight if all goes well."

The men around the table erupted into cries of joy. I was horrified. Tuffnut tugged my arm, motioning to the stairwell.

No. No way I was leaving this ship without the cure for that poison. I looked to Tuffnut, and he obviously read my expression, although he didn't look too happy about it to be sure.

"What if he recovers from the poison?" asked the soldier who was on the deck with us earlier; the one who had thought he'd heard something.

"No way," said Drago. His voice was filled with so much confidence it was almost terrifying. "You don't just _recover _from Bluestard poison."

_Bluestard, _I thought. _So I guess that's what the poison's called. Maybe because it rhymes with Bastard_.

[Okay, Hiccup, you can laugh at that rhyme. Just let me go on with the story]

"The only cure, is this," said Drago.

He had me at "cure".

I watched as he pulled out a small vial of thick, syrup like liquid and set it on the table. I caught a whiff of it as Drago popped the cork off. It was even _worse _smelling than the Berkian poison we had dumped into the water.

"What _IS _that!?" shouted one of the soldiers, holding his hand over his nose, so his voice sounded nasally, and would have been humorous hadn't our situation been so grave.

"The only cure for Bluestard poison," said Drago. "Comes from a rare flower that only blooms once every hundred years. The nectar from the flower is the same as in this bottle." He screwed the cork back in and set it off on a bookshelf to the side.

"That is a brilliant plan, sire," said one of the soldiers. "A most brilliant plan. But why didn't you just use it on all the Berkians who were hurt? Why not put Bluestard poison on all our blades?"

Drago glared horribly at the soldier. "Do you think I am ignorant?" he hissed. "Bluestard poison is even rarer than its cure. You don't just find it, or buy it. It comes from a rare kind of tree sap, mixed with other exotic plants. I only had enough to use on Berk's pathetic Chief."

I needed to get that cure. Slowly, I got on my hands and knees and began to crawl towards the bookshelf. I heard them talking around me, but they didn't notice me. As quickly as I dared without making too much noise, I got over to the bookshelf, and reached my hand towards the cure.

_Come on, come on_, I told myself over and over again. _Come on just a little bit further now... _

I wasn't going to give up. I reached up, and just barely managed to grab the small bottle. Then, I stuffed it in the pouch on my belt and crawled back over to Tuffnut.

No one noticed me.

As soon as I was back with Tuffnut, I stood up, and we raced to the top, opened the hatch, and ran out.

"That was way too close," Tuffnut whispered frantically as we began climbing back down the rope to get back to our boat. "We are _not _doing that again."

Something told me if I had to do it again, I would have.

We both took our oars and began rowing back to Berk. When we docked on said island, Snotlout and Fishlegs ran over to us. I thought they were greeting us, but they were doing anything but that. Their faces were filled with worry and dread.

I suddenly remembered what Drago had said: _Fast moving poison. He'll be dead by tomorrow, or possibly later tonight if all goes well. _

"Oh no," I said out loud in a harsh whisper. "Oh no no no no NO NO!"

Tuffnut and I jumped out of the boat, not even bothering to moor it to the dock. Snotlout and Fishlegs finally caught up, panting.

"Astrid, you have to come, NOW!" Snotlout ordered. "Hiccup is dying!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, so this is my FORTH update today, hope you all like where this is going! Anyways, shout-outs: **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Yes, I hope it works too. I guess we'll find out! XD!**

**Jesusfreak: I'm going to put the results on an A/N after the story is completed. Right now, "Remember Me" and "It Comes At Night" are dead tied, so I really don't know how it's gonna turn out. And yeah, my parents don't want me to get a tumblr account for reasons. And I completely understand! I know there can be some awful things on the internet. And wait a minute...the iTunes already came out for D.O.T.D.R!? WHOO! :D SO EXCITING! NOW I WANT A GIFTCARD! XD! I don't really understand what you mean by language. Please give me an example! I don't want to do anything offensive! (yes, I do understand the name Jesusfreak. I myself am one, too. I am a Jesus loving person, and I don't want to write anything offensive). PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IT IS! **

**AnimeAngel: Drago and the healer both need to have a Snickers bar. (Hahahahahaha!) And then get dumped in the ocean. **

We all turned and bolted towards the Great Hall. Unconsciously, I took out the vial of whatever-it-was that would hopefully save Hiccup's life, and fingered it in my palm. This was it. Either he lived or he died.

We ran to the Great Hall faster than possible. I got there long before the others. I swung open the doors and found Hiccup laying where he had been earlier, only looking far, far worse. He was almost white, although there was a slight hint of green on his face. His breath was coming in gasps and painful sounding wheezes. He was coughing and shivering uncontrollably. Valka and a few others were kneeling around him, Valka trying to comfort him, holding a rag to his forehead with one hand and holding his hand in her other one.

Hiccup wasn't going to make it.

But wait! I had it! I had the answer!

"I HAVE THE CURE!" I nearly screamed, holding the tiny vial up over my head as if it were a Thawfest trophy. Valka's head whipped around in my direction as I raced over and fell to my knees so hard I was certain I'd get bad bruises on each one.

Didn't matter to me at all, though. Not when Hiccup was so close to death.

I popped open the cork, having to turn my head away from the awful smell that emanated from it. Ignoring it for the time being, I put one hand on Hiccup's forehead to keep him steady and then poured the entire contents of the vial into his mouth. There was only about two spoonfuls worth of medicine in the bottle. I was worried it wouldn't be enough.

Hiccup coughed and choked, but managed to swallow the probably awful tasting medicine.

[No, Hiccup, I won't ask you for details. No one wants to know what they are, either]

We sat in silence for a moment; it was complete silence. After a few moments, Hiccup's breathing evened out, and he stilled. But that didn't mean the poison had been destroyed by the cure. It could have meant...have meant...

_No_.

NO!

"Hiccup!" shouted Valka, leaning over and pressing her ear to Hiccup's chest. I could only sit back, my hand still on Hiccup's forehead, tears spilling down my cheeks. That didn't happen. That. Didn't. Happen. I wouldn't allow it. I just wouldn't!

But I didn't have control over life or death.

"Please Hiccup..." I begged. "You're stronger than this...please don't be gone...please...please..."

At that moment, Hiccup bolted upright and started coughing. Of course, he shouldn't have sat up, with his injury plus broken ribs. He fell back with a sharp cry, coughing and gasping for breath.

For a moment, we were too shocked to say anything. He still looked sickly pale and slightly green, but his eyes were focused. His forehead still burned, but I could feel the heat slowly leave as I put my hand back on it.

"That tasted awful," Hiccup mumbled.

"Hiccup!" we shouted in unison.

I knew I probably shouldn't have with how Hiccup was injured, but at that moment I couldn't help myself. I wrapped my arms around Hiccup and squeezed him until he actually had to ask me to let go. And once he did, I did.

"So...what exactly...happened?" he asked weakly.

"You almost _DIED_, that's what happened!" shouted Snotlout. "But you didn't! I knew you had it in you!"

_Sure you did_, I thought sarcastically.

"Oh Hiccup..." Valka breathed, hugging Hiccup more gently than I had as to not cause him any pain, but I could tell she wished she could hold onto him tightly and never let go.

I know that was how I felt at that moment.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Ugh...tired," said Hiccup. He put his hand on his forehead. "And hot."

"It'll take a while for the effects of the poison to wear off," said Valka. She was still crying, only this time from joy. "Give or take a day or two. It's best just to sleep it off."

"Mmm hmm," said Hiccup. "I guess that's what I'll have to do."

He laid back gently and shut his eyes. In just another moment, he was sound asleep. Valka turned and stared at me in awe.

"How did you...where'd you get that?" she asked.

"It's called being awesome," said Tuffnut.

"Actually, it's a lot more than that," I said. "We'll discuss it later. Right now, let's just take a break."

Maybe it was dumb to be "taking a break" in the middle of a battle, but I couldn't help it. Hiccup was utterly worn out from fighting the poison, and he still wasn't healed of his wounds. I was still trying to calm myself down, actually acknowledge the fact that Hiccup was fine now. We didn't have to worry about the poison anymore.

Some of the healers that had been sitting around were staring at me. I didn't even offer them a second glance. At the moment, my main focus was Hiccup.

Valka placed the rag back on his forehead after re-wetting it and then brought the blanket up to his chest. I smiled at Valka, and for the first time in a while, she smiled back.

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.


	14. Chapter 14

**This is my FIRST update today. I would like to thank all who read any of my fanfics. Means a lot to me, really, it does. :) Shout-outs: **

**amillipede: Exactly. Astrid is recounting their adventure, and Hiccup keeps interrupting at different times. Almost exactly like the narration in the Kane Chronicles, only Hiccup doesn't have a POV, although I might do a future fanfic when the two alternate. I don't know. :) And yay for Astrid! **

**PuppeteerOllie: Yeah, I tend to do that a lot. XD! **

By the next morning, Hiccup was doing a lot better. Of course, he was still rather pale, slightly feverish and had a lingering cough, but for someone who had just been nearly killed by heavy, deadly poison, this was a major improvement.

I went to the Great Hall early that morning to see how he was doing. I had been thinking about him ever since I went to bed last night after bidding Valka a good evening. And truly, it was a good evening.

Hiccup was sitting up, leaning wearily against Valka when I walked in the doors of the Great Hall. I smiled at both of them, crossing the room and sitting next to Hiccup.

"So...how's it going?" I asked.

"Better than expected, actually," said Hiccup.

"Shouldn't you be laying down?" I asked.

"Probably," said Hiccup.

"_YES_," Valka corrected with a smile. "But _someone _was convinced laying down was no fun."

"Hey, I've been doing it for a while now!" said Hiccup. "It's boring."

"Well, not my fault laying down simply is boring," said Valka. "It's how you recover."

"Doesn't seem fair, but okie dokie," said Hiccup. I rolled my eyes. Hiccup and Valka were so much like each other it was almost scary.

"So, did the healers give us any good news?" I asked Valka.

"Actually, yes," said Valka. "His ribs are mending perfectly, and the major injury is no longer infected."

"Aha! Two points for Lizard Man!" shouted Hiccup, putting up two fingers. "Whoop whoop!"

"I thought you told me not to call you that," I smirked.

"Well, I did," said Hiccup, "but you're not calling me that now. It's just me calling myself Lizard Man."

"Whatever you say, Dragon Boy," I rolled my eyes.

"What _is_ with all these nicknames?" said Hiccup. "They're disturbing, each one more so than the last."

"Would you rather call me Night Fury Guy?"

"What in the _world_, Astrid!"

I was glad he was doing better. It was a major improvement. After that, I recounted to him all the things we had done in the war, how Tuffnut and I had found the cure, and then how we poisoned Drago's entire fleet. All in all, he seemed pretty impressed.

"I get sick for a while and you guys do all that?" he questioned.

"Most of it was because we were so worried about you," I pointed out.

"Right, right," he said. "So...Drago's cease fire expires in what...one and a half days?"

"Something like that," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, I guess I should take charge again..." he made a move to stand up, but Valka held him down.

"Oh no you don't!" she said.

"Mom!" said Hiccup. "I'm Chief of Berk, and as Chief it is my duty to lead the Berkians into battle."

"Not right now it's not," said Valka.

"Oh for crying out..."

"Hiccup," I interrupted calmly, "seriously, we've got this. There is NO WAY you are going to get back out there and fight, you hear me?"

"So demanding," Hiccup complained.

"Deal with it," I said.

"Well, of course I will," said Hiccup flatly. "It's not like you're giving me a choice, or anything like that."

"Got that right, Dragon Boy," I smirked.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. "I guess I have to deal with that, too, huh?"

"More than likely," I agreed.

"At least tell me how are chances are of beating Drago," said Hiccup. "No lies, Astrid, either. Tell me how it is."

At that moment, I wanted to do anything but, but I knew if I didn't give it to him straight, he'd figure it out. He's strangely good at reading faces.

[Stop rubbing it in, Hiccup. It's creepy, not good]

"We don't have a chance," I said simply. "Unless the poison does wonders on Drago's camp, I'm afraid we're going to lose."

"Just as I suspected," Hiccup nodded and frowned. "Hopelessness. I suspected nothing less."

"We haven't given up hope," I promised.

"Never crossed my mind that you would," said Hiccup with a slight eye roll. "You aren't normally put down by hopeless situations."

I didn't mention the fact that while he was dying, I had pretty much given up. No one needed to know that at this time. It didn't have anything to do with the battle occurring.

"Where's Toothless?" Hiccup questioned, obviously wanting to change the subject.

"He's waiting somewhere with the other dragons," I explained. "He's been trying to get in here to see you every so often, but we've turned him down each time. We don't want him to accidentally hurt someone else."

"Well, I guess I do understand that," said Hiccup. "But as soon as I can get up, I'm seeing him."

"I figured you would," I said. I stood up. "Well, I guess I should go see the troops," I announced. "We want to be ready when the cease fire expires."

"Okay," Hiccup agreed. "I'll see you later, then."

"You too," I said. I turned and exited the Great Hall.

...

Maybe I was crazy, I don't know, but I was excited about getting back in the fighting business. I was pretty much jumping up and down about what the effects of the poison had been to each one of those horrible people.

[Yeah yeah, Hiccup, I guess it was rude, seeing has how I don't know what poison feels like...just let me tell the story, and you can talk later]

I met up with the rest of the Berkians at the forge for another meeting, and to give them the good news about Hiccup. Of course, many of them had already heard it, but many others hadn't.

"I have good news, and then we'll start on our strategy," I said, my voice projecting and echoing against the walls of the forge. "The good news is, Hiccup has been cured from the poison, and will be back on his feet in no time."

Whoops and cries of joy erupted from the crowd. I decided against telling the what Tuffnut and I went through to get the antidote, simply because, at that moment, it wasn't important.

"As for strategy," I went on, "we learned that Drago and his army are planning to attack Berk from all directions of a compass; North; South; East; and West."

"But if they attack from all sides," said one of the villagers I didn't know very well, "where does that leave us?"

"Hopeful," I concluded. "Tuffnut and I poisoned the water around Drago's ship." I decided not to tell them what it smelled like.

[Stop laughing, Hiccup. You didn't smell it. And be thankful you didn't, too]

"When they catch fish who breathe in the poison to eat," I said, "they themselves will be poisoned. We have a distinct advantage."

"Advantage? HA!" shouted one of my least favorite villagers. "Drago has hundreds more soldiers than we do! You call a little poison an advantage?"

"I'm sorry, but did you see what poison did to Hic-our Chief?" I questioned, anger in my voice. The villager quieted, and I smirked. "You must have heard about it though, I assume," I went on. "IT. WAS. AWFUL!" I announced. "He almost didn't make it! And if weren't for us finding the cure, we would be having his funeral instead of making plans for the next battle."

I turned to the rest of the group. "Now," I said sweetly, "any more questions? No? Good. Then, BACK TO YOUR POSTS!"

They didn't need to be told twice. The only ones who remained at the forge were Ruffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs. They were all staring at me, and I didn't like it.

"What?" I asked in annoyance.

"How did you find the cure, exactly?" asked Snotlout in a tone of voice that nearly made my skin crawl. "And how did you learn all that about Drago's plans?"

I sighed heavily and told them the tale. When I finished, they looked flabbergasted.

"Did you make it out alive?" asked Ruffnut.

I facepalmed and laughed. Typical Ruffnut. "No, Ruffnut," I sighed. "We died."

It took Ruffnut a moment to think about it before she finally understood.

"Oooh," she said.

We bursted out laughing despite how serious the situation was.

For some reason, laughter felt so good.


	15. Chapter 15

**This is my SECOND update today (definitely not my last, either). And I wanted to thank all of you for reading. It means a lot to me knowing there are people out there who pause at my fanfic and read it. :) Anyways, shout-outs: **

**xFaerieValkyriex: I'm glad my stories help you chill out. I know writing them is my way of relaxing, amongst other things, like piano, ocarina, my MP3 player...I don't know. I have a lot of them. XD! I can't only have one. :) **

**Slupfee: The profile picture is from "Dawn of the Dragon Racers." I believe it will be released in November along with HTTYD2. I CANNOT WAIT! :D**

**amillipede: I HAVE NO IDEA! But it's HILARIOUS! :D I like it, to be frank. Just a little spoiler: Hiccup's gonna get back at her in the end. XD! **

**IMPORTANT: I have a poll on my profile for which story to write next. PLEASE PLEASE VOTE! I HAVE NO IDEA! And if you are a guest viewer and cannot vote on polls, if you could just leave your vote on a seporate review, or whatever, that would be great. At the end of this fanfic I will write an A/N with the final results. :) Anyways, enjoy chapter 15! **

You know, I love danger as much as the next person does. But just not so much when that danger is a fleet bigger that the population of your entire island made up of people who would not hesitate to kill you and would in fact enjoy it.

I don't know about you, maybe it's just me.

I walked up to Snotlout and took the spyglass from him as he handed it to me. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the dark midnight chill, I was able to make out Drago's ships, looking much bigger in the spyglass.

"I haven't seen anyone on deck all day," said Snotlout, taking the spyglass from me and looking into it again. "I think the poison worked."

I smirked. "Of course it worked!" I said enthusiastically. "Berk's got some of the smartest people in the archipelago!"

"Yeah, well, hopefully none of Drago's men are smart enough to figure out a cure," said Snotlout flatly.

I was a bit let down by his downbeat attitude, but I guess I understood why he was feeling sort of out of it. If the poison somehow didn't work, or some of Drago's men figured out we were the ones who did it...well...let's just say it wouldn't have been good.

Snotlout had been on lookout duty ever since the meeting earlier broke on my personal request. I just wanted to have someone looking constantly at Drago's ships, make sure nothing too rash was going on.

So far, though, there wasn't anything.

"Cease fire expires tomorrow morning," I said, watching as Snotlout lowered the spyglass. "Are the troops set at the proper locations?"

"Yeah," said Snotlout. "Fishlegs is leading the group in South, Eret's leading the group in the East, Tuffnut's leading the group in the West, and you're supposed to be leading the group in the North."

He put tension on the word "supposed."

"Are you mad at me or something, Snotlout?" I questioned. "We really shouldn't be holding grudges against each oth-"

"It's not you, Astrid," said Snotlout. "I promise it's not you, okay? Just...what you've been saying."

I was threatened to grab him and force the truth out of him, but hesitated.

"What have I been saying?" I asked, not harshly, not not kindly either.

"You always tell us that we are outnumbered," said Snotlout, "but then you go on to say something about hope, and how there is some left." He looked at me, and I was afraid _he _was going to be the one to grab me and force the truth out of me. "But there isn't any. You know that. And if you don't, you're just being ignorant."

I was tempted to take my place as first to grab him, but refrained.

"There is always hope," I quoted what Hiccup told me before. It seemed so long ago. "Look, I understand you're just thinking practically, but...you have to admit, the poisons were pretty impressive."

"But we didn't even try any of them out!" said Snotlout. "We don't know if they'll work or not!"

I opened my mouth to disagree with him, but no words came out as I pondered what exactly he had just told me. Was he doubting the Berkians? Was he _seriously _doubting the Berkians? Really?

And here he was mad at _me. _

"Fine," I finally managed to spit out. "You can think what you want, Snotlout, but leave me out of it."

"I tried to," said Snotlout. "You're the one who asked."

With that, I turned swiftly on my heels and mounted Stormfly. With a final glare to Snotlout, we took to the air, heading to the North side of Berk.

...

When we landed, I dismounted and looked at the group. We had split the soldiers into five even sections: four for each compass point, and then one extra to guard the plaza of the village (that group was lead by Snotlout, in case anyone's wondering).

Gobber was in the North group, shouting out commands for the villagers to form ranks. I walked over and took over for him smoothly, thanking him for all his previous help.

"Okay," I said, "listen closely."

_Oh Hiccup is so much better than this_, I thought.

[Stop being so modest, Hiccup. You know it's true]

"Drago and his men will arrive on shore when day breaks, or perhaps sooner," I said. "Although I most certainly hope not."

_This went a lot better in my head_, I thought bitterly. _Say something encouraging. What would Hiccup say if he were you right now? _

"We can do it," I decided, pacing back and forth slowly in front of the lined up Berkians. "We. Can. Do it. And we WILL do it. Berk is an island that has held fast generation after generation. Three hundred years, while Berk was at war with the dragons, it held out. WE held out. We're vikings!" I shouted. "We have stubbornness issues, am I right!?"

There were shouts of agreement from the crowd.

"And if Berk can withstand three hundred years of dragon attacks," I nearly screamed, "then you better believe we can withstand Drago's soldiers!"

Another shout of agreement. I felt pride swell in me. Maybe it wasn't going so bad after all.

"Remember!" I shouted. "Remember who you are! WHAT WE ARE!" I said. "Well, WHAT ARE WE!?"

"HOOLIGANS!" echoed the crowd.

"AND WHAT ARE WE!?" I yelled.

"STUBBORN!" came the reply.

_Well, not exactly what I had in mind, but so be it_, I thought.

"RIGHT!" I shouted. "THEN LET'S TAKE DOWN DRAGO BLUDVIST! AS ONE!"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" same the loud reply that rang in my ears.

Hooligans were stubborn, but awesome.

Now they were ready for battle.

Now the only question was...

...

...

...

...was I?

...

Drago's ships arrived incredibly early. Just half an hour after I got the Hooligans hyped up for war.

I only saw a few ships approach the North side; the rest of the ships, I knew, were coming in from different directions.

"Hold together!" I ordered the Berkians standing behind me. I wasn't too happy about seeing Drago's specific ship in the group of attackers taking down the North side.

_Great_, I thought sarcastically. _Drago's gonna hate me. Well, he'll hate me _more _than already. _

The planks for the ships were lowered, and Drago and his men stepped off. But they were swaying on their feet, looking sickly and slightly green. Well, all but Drago, that was. He looked in perfect health.

[No, Hiccup, you looked far worse when you were poisoned. And no, I won't give you details. You wouldn't want them, trust me]

Drago looked at us and snickered as his poisoned army lined up behind him.

"You are clever brats," he sneered. "Poisoning us like that."

"Did we do that?" I asked. "Whoops. Sorry about that."

"Coward!" shouted Drago. "You're all cowards! All of you! Every single one of you blasted Berkians are cowards!"

"Hold together, men," I told the Hooligans.

"Do you deny it, girl?" asked Drago. "Is there any denying the fact?"

Truth be told? I was scared out of my wits. Drago was even worse than Alvin and Dagur both combined. He was almost as smart as Hiccup, as skilled as Stoick with weapons, and as strong as ten Berkians together.

"I, am Astrid Hofferson!" I shouted. "Fearless Finn Hofferson was my uncle." I drew my axe and held it together in both my hands. "And I don't take my family name as a joke," I hissed angrily.

"Neither do I," said Drago. "Why the poison, girl? Too afraid we'd beat you? Well, I'll tell you this. As soon as I take down you and your puny warriors, I'll find your Chief. Oh, wait, right, he's dead!"

I refrained from shouting differently for Hiccup's safety, and apparently, everyone else thought the same thing. If Drago thought Hiccup was dead, maybe Hiccup would stay protected.

"Hiccup was a warrior, Drago!" I shouted. "He was more than you would ever be! More than you are now, more than you are ever!"

"Touching," said Drago. "Now let us kill you."

His soldiers charged, although they were shaky on their feet, their steps uneven and poorly timed. But they were still intensely trained warriors. It wasn't as easy to take them down as I would have hoped.

I had acted as their commander, so naturally, Drago took me on for a fight first. It was axe against sword, but he was _good_. Like..._really really _good. He made Snotlout's skill look like stone-skipping. This was _massive_.

I held on, nonetheless. I wouldn't give up. I wouldn't surrender. If Drago killed me, he would kill me with everyone knowing and remembering me as someone who fought to the end. As someone who would do anything and everything to protect those they cared about.

But Drago was just too good. He swung my axe out of my hands in just a moment and swiped at me. I couldn't jump away in time, and he cut my arm, leaving an unclean, painful gash along it.

I screamed in pain as Drago advanced on me again. He held his sword in one hand and used the other to shove me down. I fell over, rolling on the sand for a bit before finally coming to a stop.

_Get up get up get up get up get up..._I screamed mentally at myself, but my actions betrayed my thoughts. I couldn't get up. My body wasn't cooperating with me.

I cracked my eyes open as Drago lifted the sword over my head.

This was it. I was going to die. I was going to die. I WAS GOING TO DIE.

[Yes yes, Hiccup, I was repeating myself. Stop reminding me]

Just before the sword dropped, there was a blast. A LOUD. LONG. PURPLE. BLAST.

Wait..._purple_?

Before I could even begin to think of what in the world was happening, someone jumped between me and Drago. I couldn't fully register who he was between sand in my eyes and blinding pain in my arm, but then he spoke.

"Don't...you...dare...touch...Astrid," he threatened. I could tell by the way it came out that whoever was saying it had his teeth gritted.

Wait a minute. I knew that voice. _I KNEW THAT VOICE! _

"Hiccup?" I asked.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16, rolling into cliffhangerness. :) My THIRD update today, hope you guys are enjoying it so far! Anyways, shout-outs: **

**QueenAurora: I doubt it makes you a psychopathy. It makes you a...ah...what's the right word? I have no idea. I think everyone in the fandom is a little insane, though. I know I am for sure. Take it as a compliment! :D **

**AnimeAngel: Seriously though. They always arrive at precisely the correct moment. Although Hiccup's gonna get it from Astrid for getting out of ben, but...no matter! Hiccup wouldn't care anyways. XD! "Snickers: You aren't you when you're hungry." :D I'm pretty sure that's right! **

**Wanli8970: Ugh. Let's just see if Toothless is hungry for healer. :D **

**lorde: Glad you still read it! :D And thanks for the review! **

**HTTYDLOVER234517: Glad you love it! And your vote has been dialed in! The results will be up on an A/N once this story is completed. :) **

**Jesusfreak: Yeah, I guess you're right about the OCCness. What I'm doing in stories is this: I put myself in Astrid's place. What would I do if I were in her position? You follow me? I really don't think she would be all "Miss Tough" if Hiccup were hurt, or something, like he is quite often in my fanfictions. I'll make sure to make her more feisty in future fics. :) And I know what you mean about Christians. They're especially hard to come by over the internet, but I'm glad I found one! :D And yeah, I have five brothers, no sisters. I'm second oldest, too, so...yep. :) And I like Spiderman, I just couldn't watch it all day. Every now and then, maybe? I don't know. We don't watch it much. :) Glad you like these chapters! **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Two points for Dragon Boy! Whoop whoop! Whoop whoop! Blast Drago, Toothless, whoop whoop. :D **

Hiccup turned and locked eyes with me. I couldn't believe it was actually him! He wasn't supposed to even be out of bed! Well...he was a viking, and we were stubborn, but it wasn't any excuse!

[Oh come on, Hiccup. You know it's true. And I do thank you for saving me, don't get me wrong, it's just...oh come on! You're missing the point!]

I opened my eyes fully and lifted my head off the ground and looked straight at him. His emerald green eyes were so wild it would have scared me hadn't I known the young dragon rider he was. His teeth were gritted, his face full of anger, hatred, and pain.

He turned back to Drago.

"Don't you dare," he snarled, holding Inferno out in front of him so it created a space between him and his enemy. Toothless roared and swooped in from where he was gliding. It suddenly occurred to me; Hiccup had _jumped off _Toothless and put himself between me and Drago. I didn't want to imagine how much that hurt him.

"HICCUP!?" shouted Drago. "YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!"

"It takes more than a little poison to kill me," Hiccup said, swinging Inferno. He and Drago were pulled into battle.

My body screamed in protest as I painfully yanked myself to the ground. The instant I did, I almost fell back down, but held on purely because I was stubborn. I _wouldn't _fall down again. I _wouldn't _stand by while Hiccup risked his life. I _wouldn't _just _watch_.

I looked for my axe, but couldn't find it. My legs wobbled. I didn't think walking and looking around would be an option for me at that point, so I settled for watching, making sure the Berkians were doing okay.

They were doing more than "okay." They were doing fabulous. Drago's men were skilled, but so were the Berkians. And the Berkians weren't poisoned, which was also a big thumbs up.

Hiccup's strength was failing, I knew it just by looking at him. Before I could move, more Berkian soldiers raced forward and helped Hiccup with Drago. While the Hooligans distracted the horrible man, Hiccup raced over to me and supported me, taking one of my arms over his shoulder and keeping me upright.

As I thought about it, it should have been the other way around.

"Leave me here, Hiccup," I said weakly, leaning up against him. "I'm no use to anyone anymore."

"Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen. I've lost my leg and my father, Astrid," said Hiccup with an eye roll. "I am _not_ going to lose you."

See? What did I tell you? Vikings = Stubborn. Especially Hiccup. It ran through the entire Haddock family, seeing as how Stoick, Valka and Hiccup were all stubborn, although none so much as Hiccup.

"TOOTHLESS!" shouted Hiccup to the Night Fury. Toothless ran over instantly, nudging his master's hand with his muzzle. "Hey, buddy, take Astrid to the Great Hall, okay?" asked Hiccup.

"WHAT!?" I shrieked. "NO!"

"Seriously, Astrid?" he challenged. "You really want to argue with me _now_?"

He looked back and gestured with his head at Drago, who was taking down the Berkian soldiers one by one. But still, Hiccup couldn't really expect me to just take cover and hide while the rest of the war went on.

Before I could protest, he walked over to Toothless and pulled the lever for solo gliding. Then, he ordered the Night Fury to take me back to the Great Hall. I was about to protest, when Toothless swooped over me, hooking his legs around my arms and pulling me into the air.

"HICCUP!" I screamed. "STOP!"

He smiled, waved, and then turned to face Drago again.

I kept screaming and kicking and thrashing wildly against Toothless' grip, but the Night Fury held fast. I had to do something. Maybe I could figure out a way to get Toothless to turn around and go back...

"Toothless, we need to go back!" I pleaded. Toothless ignored me. Stubborn dragon. Almost as stubborn as his rider. Almost, not quite.

"Toothless, we have to go help Hiccup!" I shouted. Toothless stopped for a moment, and then continued flying in a steady pattern. "Toothless, if we don't help Hiccup he'll die!" I shouted.

THAT got the Night Fury instantly. He looked down at me, and I nodded. Then, he tossed me into the air, and I landed on his back.

"Okay, perfect!" I exclaimed. "Now let's go help Hiccup!"

We both turned and headed back to the battle. On our way, we flew over the West side. Berkian was against Drago's army, and the Berkians were winning. For the sake of knowing, we went and checked on the East side. Berkians once again were winning, but on the South side, Drago's army was winning.

Toothless called a few dragons to help the South and then flew down to help a little bit himself. I wanted to scream at him that we needed to save Hiccup, but since Toothless became the Alpha, he knew he had to protect his dragons as well as his rider.

He landed and fended off a few of Drago's soldiers. We were about to take to the sky again, when I heard someone scream my name.

"ASTRID!" the voice called.

I looked up to see Valka fly in on Cloudjumper. She leaped off his back before he was even touching the ground and ran over to me.

"Astrid, where's Hiccup!?" she shouted, grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me slightly.

"On the North side!" I replied. "Why'd you let him go!?"

"I DIDN'T!" shouted Valka. "He...he just got up and ran away before I could stop him!" She turned around and mounted Cloudjumper again and then flew off to the North. I patted Toothless, and the Night Fury took off as well.

And it was a good thing we got there sooner than later.

Hiccup was fighting Drago alone again, the other Berkians occupied by Drago's soldiers. I scanned the area for Stormfly and then found the Nadder attacking Drago's men, shielding Berkians in the process.

_Good girl_, I thought.

Toothless and Cloudjumper landed near Drago and Hiccup, but not less than twenty feet away. Valka and I dismounted and then ran over. I reached for my axe, and then realized that I didn't have it still.

It wasn't going to stop me, though.

I grabbed a random fallen sword and ran forward, Valka charging beside me. Hiccup turned and looked at us, but he really shouldn't have taken his eyes off the fight. When Drago attacked again, Hiccup's footing wasn't exactly tops. He tripped and fell backwards, still holding Inferno out in front of him.

He rolled out of the way as Drago brought his sword down. Drago shouted angrily and tried again. Hiccup shoved Inferno forward, the firelit blade perfect. Drago stepped away to avoid getting singed. While he did that, Hiccup stood shakily to his feet.

"You...cannot defeat me!" shouted Drago. "I will not be taken down by...by...a hiccup!"

"Newsflash," said Hiccup, gripping both his hands on Inferno's hilt. "You will."

Hiccup wasn't really an aggressive person, but I will warn you this: Do NOT get on his bad side. He wasn't strong physically, but he was strong mentally. If he devised a plan against you, it _would not _fail.

Hiccup and Drago advanced on each other. Inferno was the perfect weapon to use against Drago. The fire on the blade provided great defense and offense.

About this time, Valka and I had reached him. We hesitated, fighting off people who tried to take us down.

"Astrid! Mom!" shouted Hiccup, not even giving us a second glance. "You shouldn't be here!"

"Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen," I flipped his own words right back at him. He groaned, not even looking at me.

Drago had an advantage on Hiccup. He knew Hiccup was distracted by me and Valka, so he took his chance. He knocked Hiccup off his feet and then aimed his sword for the kill.

He would have, too, hadn't Valka interfered.

She ran forward and knocked Drago's sword away from Hiccup with her own. Then she placed herself between Hiccup and Drago, aiming her sword at her enemy.

"Keep away from my son, Bludvist," she hissed.

Drago laughed. I wanted to jump in and fight, but hesitated.

"Step aside, Valka," Drago sneered. "Maybe I'll consider sparing you after I kill all the other Berkians. Your knowledge of dragons could be useful."

"I'd rather die than help you," Valka hissed through clenched teeth. Hiccup stood up behind her and clicked Inferno once more.

"Me too," said Hiccup.

Drago laughed. "Like mother like son," he snickered. "Pity I'll have to kill you."

"I was about to say the same thing," said Hiccup. "Although when I said it, it would have been sarcasm."

The Haddocks charged.

I wanted to race forward and help them, but I saw Stormfly off to the side. She was losing the battle against the soldiers quickly, becoming overwhelmed. I groaned in frustration, but knew Hiccup would be fine as long as Valka was with him, and then ran to help my dragon.

Together, the two of us fought off the soldiers. Toothless blasted a few I didn't see with plasma blasts while at the same time looking for a chance to blast Drago. But Hiccup and Valka were too close to him. Blasting Drago could also blast the two Berkians.

Hiccup and Valka fought side by side against Drago, but Drago...he was _gooooooood_. Too good. Way too good. No one should have been able to be that good.

[I know you get the point, Hiccup. I was just emphasizing. Oh stop it. You talk as much as Trader Johann]

Valka and Hiccup fought him and fought him like crazy. Hiccup looked over his shoulder at Toothless. He nodded to the dragon, and the dragon nodded back. Hiccup looked at Drago, and then at his mother.

"When I say now," Hiccup whispered, "get down."

"What?" asked Valka. "Why would I-"

"NOW!" shouted Hiccup. He threw something on the ground and then pushed himself and Valka to the sandy beach. Before I could shout that Drago was taking advantage, Toothless fired a plasma blast, straight at Drago.

Then there was an explosion.


	17. Chapter 17

**Whoa. This chapter took a LOT longer to get out than I intended. Six hours? Seriously!? WHAT HAVE I DONE!? Anyways, this is my FORTH update today (quite possibly, but not probably, my last). I want to apologize for all those cliffhangers, and in advance for all the future ones you know are going to come. Anyways...shout-outs: **

**httyd-someone: Well, you see...I love my cliffhangers. I just can't get enough. Reading pretty much any one of my fanfictions will tell you that. Or you could ask any one of my readers and they'll tell you, too. :) I am an author with a knack of leaving you all hanging by a thread. Sometimes thick, sometimes thin. No idea. :) It depends. **

**Wanli8070: "And...never misses." Night Furies _don't _really _miss_, unless they weren't really _trying_. And you better believe Toothless was trying! :) You'll see what happens to the healer in chapter 18, just to let you know. I plan to surprise you all with that. :) **

**xFaerieValkyriex: I tend to do intense stuff. Between intense battle scenes and cliffhangers. That's my jam! :) It's the way I roll...off a cliff. :O **

**PuppeteerOllie: 5, 6, 7, 8, Who is it that we really Hate? DRAGO BLUDVIST! Get 'em, Toothless! Whoop whoop! Go Night Fury! Go Dragon Boy! GO BERKIANS! :D **

**QueenAurora: Goooooooood. Hiccup doesn't deserve to die. :) I like Hiccup's personality. He's hilarious, but knows when to be serious, pays attention to his friends, listens to them even when it's pointless...he just is a great character. **

**amillipede: *high pitched baby voice* But I likes da cliffhangers! :) *back to normal voice* I DON'T KNOW! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, it is gonna be "epic", as you put it. Probably see a lot of that in chapter 19 (two chapters away). Yep, sorry about those cliffhangers. I just can't help myself. :) **

**_ANNOUNCEMENT:_ _REMEMBER to VOTE for which story I'm going to write next! At present, it looks like "It Comes At Night" is going to win, but I don't know anymore! I honestly don't know anymore! I will put the results on an A/N after this fic is finished, and then you can see which one I'm doing next. Remember also, if you have any requests, you can go ahead and ask! I'll put them on my POLL as long as I feel I can do them, and then more people will be able to vote for them. Enjoy chapter 17 while you're at it (or hate it, or whatever). _ **

[I understand, Hiccup, really, I do, but you gave me a heart attack!]

The explosion was...massive. Nothing more to be said about the matter. I was nearly blasted off my feet from the sheer force of it.

I realized that Hiccup must have tossed Inferno's gas pouches on the ground to create the explosion when Toothless fired, but he could have at least warned someone!

Everyone turned in the direction of the blast.

"Hiccup!" I shouted the first thing that came to my mind.

Toothless roared in distress and raced into the ashes, waving the smoke back with his wings. I saw Valka, laying face down, unresponsive.

"VALKA!" I shouted, running over and turning her over roughly. I shook her, maybe a little too hard. Her eyes bolted open and she sat up.

"Where...where's Hiccup?" she questioned. We both exchanged glances.

"HICCUP!" we both shouted in unison. Valka jumped to her feet as well as I did and we began searching frantically. The Berkians and more of Drago's men were still fighting, but we both ignored them.

Where was Hiccup?

"HICCUP!" shouted Valka, spinning around on her heels and looking in another direction. Toothless was still fanning the area with his wings, running amuck in the ash-filled air, blowing the smoke back and sniffing around for his beloved rider.

Then we heard Toothless roar. When we turned around, we both saw Hiccup stumble forward, dragging Inferno on the ground beside him.

"Don't let me do that again," he mumbled, and then collapsed.

[Oh, NOW you try to explain yourself, Hiccup! Just let me tell the story, and then you can have your say in it some other time]

"Hiccup!" we both exclaimed, running towards the fallen Chief. Toothless got to him before us, nudging him and licking him, trying to wake him up. Valka outran me easily and knelt beside Hiccup, grabbing his arms and pulling his torso onto her knees. His head rested limply on her forearm.

I ran up and collapsed beside them, laying my hand on Hiccup's forehead. He was hot. Right. He was still recovering from the poison and the injury.

Valka and I looked at each other, and then the soldiers battling around us. Berk was winning, especially since Drago had been blasted.

It was probably very unexpected of me, but I said, "Good boy, Toothless."

Toothless licked me and then looked back to his rider, concern evident. _The poor dragon,_ I thought sadly. _Poor Valka, too._

"I need to get him back," said Valka. "He could have hurt himself even more."

I nodded and remembered he did have broken ribs and not to mention that puncture wound, also not to mention he was still slightly ill from side effects of the poison.

"I'll help you," I offered.

Valka whistled to Cloudjumper. I wanted to suggest we took Toothless, but Cloudjumper was Valka's personal dragon. Plus, Toothless was the Alpha. He couldn't leave his dragon followers, although I knew by his face he very much wanted to. I helped Valka get Hiccup onto Cloudjumper and then jumped on behind her. Cloudjumper took to the sky.

Instead of going to the Great Hall, which was now packed with the wounded and sick, we went straight to the Haddock's house. Valka was certain Hiccup would be more comfortable at his own house than in the Great Hall, and I agreed.

When we landed, I helped Valka take Hiccup to his loft, where he was laid in bed and looked over my Valka and myself. We were both worried, obviously. Who wouldn't be, really?

[Don't say a single word, Hiccup]

"I think he'll be fine," said Valka, but she didn't sound one hundred percent certain. She sat on the edge of the bed, and I did the same on the other side. We were both nearly terrified about all this, but we also knew Hiccup was stronger than he was given credit for. He'd be fine.

Hopefully.

Valka stood to leave, just because she had to. There was still a battle raging on, and she had to be there in place of me and Hiccup. I could tell her motherly instincts were fighting with her; she was torn between staying and going. Sighing, I spoke before she left.

"I'll go back out," I offered, "and you could stay with him."

I could see the gratitude in her eyes. Sure, I was worried about Hiccup as much as the next person was, but Valka was his _mother_. I was just his friend. Besides, if Hiccup woke up, chances were he would want Valka (although he wouldn't say it out loud).

"Thank you, Astrid," said Valka.

We switched places, and I turned and headed down the stairs and out the door. I wished I had brought a dragon with me, but Cloudjumper was the only one, and I was a bit shaky about riding the Stormcutter without Valka, so I settled for running back to the North side.

The battle was in Berk's favor at the moment. Drago's soldiers were falling from poison and despair, knowing their chief...or...leader...or whatever they called him was dead from Toothless' blast.

I grabbed a sword, and joined the fight.

All in all, I was pretty much satisfied.

The battle raged on for hours after that. Hours upon hours on end, but Drago's army didn't stand as big of a chance as they normally would have. Most of them had either passed out or fainted, and those who weren't had been knocked out or killed.

We were going to win, one way or another.

...

The battle was won with Berk as its victor. The surviving soldiers of Drago's were locked in Berkian prison, the dead soldiers thrown on old ships and sent out to the end of the Earth. There had been eleven Hooligan deaths, plus hundreds of casualties, but the war was over. The war was _won_. We had defeated Drago's men. We had beat them. We had shown them what the Berkians were made of. We had shown them that we were stronger than what we appeared. We had shown them that they couldn't defeat Berk just by looking at the odds.

[Fine, Hiccup, I'll stop with what we'd shown them]

North, West, East and South met up with the fifth area in the plaza. The wounded were kept in the Great Hall or at their houses. The healers were running amuck, but there weren't any life threatening injuries.

The first thing I did after we won the battle was went to the Haddock residence; to tell Hiccup and Valka the great news, and ask how they were both doing. Hiccup for obvious reasons, and Valka just because I was worried about her, too.

When I put my hand to the handle, something black nearly crashed into me, desperate to get into the house.

"Toothless!" I shouted. "What's up?"

Well, obviously, I knew what was "up", quote on quote: Hiccup was. Toothless motioned to the door, so I did the only thing I really knew how to do at that moment: I opened it.

Toothless barreled through faster than one could say Hiccup's full name.

[Sorry, Hiccup, but it's true. And don't be getting angry at me now]

We raced up the stairs, unable to imagine what was going on up there. When we reached the top, I walked over to Hiccup and Valka and sat beside Valka on the edge of the bed. Valka was currently binding new gauze around Hiccup's stomach, and I watched, not knowing what else to do.

"He's doing better," said Valka, interrupting my thought process. He _looked _better, in my opinion. His face wasn't ashen or green like it had been earlier that day, and after placing my hand to his forehead, I determined his fever had gone down.

"That's good," I said in relief, lowering my hand. Hiccup moaned softly in his sleep before his breathing evened out again.

"How are you doing yourself, Valka?" I asked.

"Fine," said Valka. "Just...concerned."

"We won," I blurted out. "The survivors of Drago's army are in prison, the dead have been taken care of. We...eleven Berkians died today, Valka."

I wasn't sure if I had been imagining it or not, but a tear fell from Valka's eyes.

"They died honorably, Valka," I reassured, putting my hand on her shoulder. "We won't forget them."

"I know we won't," said Valka, putting one of her hands on top of mine. "I know we won't."

Toothless growled happily and bounced in circles around the room. Valka smiled as I shushed him.

"Berk is stronger than what people think it is," said Valka. "Sort of like its inhabitants."

"And its Chief," I said with a smirk. "Don't worry, Valka."

I stood up and left, not because I wanted to, but because I had to have a little talk with someone.

I was going to find that healer.


	18. Chapter 18

**Okay, this is my FIFTH update today, if I am correct. Thanks for reading! Did I mention I have a lot more planned for this story? Well...not a lot lot more, but still, a little part you never saw coming. Enjoy chapter 18, where you learn just what that "part" is. But before you do that...shout-outs: **

**PuppeteerOllie: Aww, you caught my plan. See this chapter? Read it. I cover that in it. :) **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Okay, will do! I will also write the number of votes in tally marks (for example: XXX = III, or something like that, depending on the name of the story and the number of votes). Yep! Berk totally beat Drago's army! :) Take that, you madman! HAHAHAHAHAHA! **

**AnimeAngel: YES! ME TOO! I want to see Hiccup get into a _SERIOUS _battle with someone! I mean...I know, he kinda got into a battle with Dagur in "The Night and the Fury", but that was nothing! He needs a sword! Or something! Plus, it didn't seem realistic enough. I know, maybe I'm just mean, but I want Hiccup to get hurt by Dagur (nothing graphic or gory, or anything, of course. Maybe a broken arm, or leg, or something?). We didn't see much of that at all in seasons one and two (despite "When Lightning Strikes", but in my opinion, he recovered WAAAAY too fast from the lightning bolt to the head). I don't know. Maybe I'm just gruesome. I'm sure I'm not the only one, though, but once again, I don't know. :) I really hope I'm not... XD! **

I had a few choice words for that healer.

Just who did she think she was? Of course, I mean, when I caught sight of Hiccup, I was about to give up.

[Yes, Hiccup, you really did look that bad. Now stop interrupting]

But, thing is, _I didn't_. I didn't give up. I didn't just hang my hands and say "Weeeellp, he's gonna die. No hope. Nope." At least I tried. And I succeeded, too! I did it. Tuffnut and I, anyways. We did it.

Now I was going to talk to that healer about what she said to me in the Great Hall. And later, I was going to talk to Hiccup about firing her and rehiring her as a bread making viking, or a small home repair viking, or something different. We didn't need hopeless people helping the injured during a seemingly hopeless war.

I suddenly imagined the healer, standing in front of a fireplace, stirring soup in a pot and then yelling and glaring at it when it tasted like dirt. The thought made me laugh; it was hilarious.

[Okay, you can stop laughing now, Hiccup. It wasn't _that _funny]

I had found my axe during the battle last night, and now the blade swung from where I held it in my belt. It felt good to have my personal weapon back, and even more so when I remembered there wasn't a battle to be fought anymore.

I found the healer, sitting at the edge of a cliff. Strange. I didn't understand why she wasn't at the Great Hall, but I supposed I couldn't blame her really, either. Not after how I completely crushed her theory for "No hope for Hiccup at all" and "He is not going to make it" a while back.

I heard the sound of a stone scraping against metal. I saw that the healer was sharpening a sword of some sort. I didn't see it fully, though; the healer had her back turned to me.

As I approached her, I thought about apologizing. Maybe I snapped at her too hard. Maybe I should have said something else. Maybe I should have just left before I got angry.

Great. Now I was feeling _guilty_.

"Uhhh..." I started lamely. I didn't know where to begin. "Hi?"

The healer jumped up and whipped around in my direction, dropping the stone and aiming the sword at me. I put my hands up.

"Whoa, it's just me," I said.

"I know," said the healer.

"Ookay, that is officially not usual," I said, reaching for my axe. I drew it and held it, not knowing exactly what was happening; just knowing that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

I suddenly realized the crest on the sword hilt; it almost made my skin freeze. It was the same mark on the masts to Drago's ships.

_The. _

_Same. _

_Mark. _

"Who are you!?" I shouted. Man. I could have said anything. Anything would have been better than a simple "Who are you."

The healer smiled. "I am Waen," she said. "One of Drago's chief spies."

"You...you were sent to _spy on us_!?" I shouted, still feeling lame. _Say something intimidating! _my mind screamed at me. _Strike fear into her heart! Make her pay for everything she did! _

"Indeed," said Waen. "And it worked fairly well, didn't it, Miss Hofferson?"

"Don't you _dare_," I sneered, tightening my hold on my axe. "Don't you _dare _address me as anything again." I felt so...so..._MAD. ANGRY. ANYTHING LIKE THAT! _How DARE she lie to us!? What gave her the guts to do something like that!?

"How did you do it?!" I shouted.

"Simple," said Waen. "I started out just blending in with the other healers. No one noticed something was up, now did they? Not even your Chief..."

I felt anger rise into my throat like the hyperventilating breaths I was taking. How...how _dare she!? _HOW DARE SHE!? Earlier, I had addressed Hiccup as my "friend", but he was so much more than that. He was my BEST FRIEND. Not even the term "boyfriend" really did it over. I loved him. I would do anything for him. And now here was Waen talking bad about him...

"DON'T YOU DARE BRING HICCUP INTO THIS!" I yelled angrily.

"Ahh, yes," said Waen. "Well, you see...I already have."

"HOW!?" I asked. "How!? How did you bring him into this!? What have you done to bring him into this!?"

"Simple," said Waen. "Poisoned him in his sleep."

Great. Exactly what we needed was more poison. She was bluffing. She had to have been bluffing. But then I remembered yesterday, how Hiccup just collapsed...I thought it had just been from the explosion, or from the fact that he was still recovering from Drago's poison, but...

"What did you do?" I hissed.

"Took a mixture of poisonous plants, such as the bark of Black Locust, a few petals of the Elderberry, some Jimson Weed, not to mention other poisonous plants and such. I'd like to see him survive _that_."

"You're a monster!" I shouted. Hiccup was the best friend I ever had. I thought once I found the cure, it would be over. I wondered before why Drago hadn't just destroyed the only cure if he hadn't wanted Hiccup to live...and then it occurred to me.

Waen was his backup plan if at first he didn't succeed. She would sneak into Berk right under our noses, pretend to be a healer, just so she could get to Hiccup. I wondered why I hadn't seen it before. She looked just like any other healer; I had mistaken her for one of our own.

I had been foolish.

And now Hiccup was the one paying for it.

But Waen wasn't off the hook.

She was going to pay for it, too.

I advanced, and we parried. I hadn't expected her to be so _good_. She was almost as good as me. Almost, not quite, mind you.

We fought on the cliff edge like mad. Well, technically, I was mad, in the angry sense. And Waen was mad because she was working for Drago. And Drago was a madman. None of his followers were any different.

Waen stared at me blankly as I fought her and she fought me. We parried and held fast there, pushing on each others weapons.

"You can kill me," said Waen through teeth clenched so tight it probably caused pain, "you can capture me. You can lock me in prison, keep me there until I die...but your Chief will not survive. He will die from the poisonous plants. He. Will. Die."

"NO!" I shouted, swinging the weapon out of her hands without hardly even thinking about what I was doing. The weapon clattered against the stones as it flew down the cliff. About ten seconds later, I heard a _THUMP _sound made from when the sword hit the rocky stones at the bottom of the cliff.

I was ready to kill Waen right there, but I didn't. It wasn't the Berkian way. I would take her to prison until a proper sentence could be handed down. That sentence, of course, would be death anyway, so not like I cared whether she died here or in Berkian prison.

"Hiccup will not die," I snarled. "You underestimate him."

"As you do the poison," said Waen. "It is too late for him. Too late for yourself. You didn't even notice. You didn't notice there was a different person in your midst. You were too occupied to care."

As much as I wanted to argue, I knew Waen was right about me not realizing her; but then again, she hadn't noticed us Berkians when we spied on their ships. We were really on the same boat right now.

[Quit laughing, Hiccup, there was no pun intended]

I was so mad, though. Before I could grab the healer and drag her to jail, she took a step back by mistake. And what a mistake it was. The ground beneath her became unstable. With a scream, she slipped and fell off the side, falling down, over the side of the cliff.

I rushed to the side and looked down, watching her fall to her death. I should have been relieved to have her gone.

Then why was my mind filled with sorrow and guilt?

She was just another poor person who had been brainwashed by Drago. She deserved to die, but in another way, she didn't.

I didn't have time to grieve over her, though, nor did I want to. With renewed fear, I raced to the Haddock house.


	19. Chapter 19

**Whoa. I guess you guys didn't see that plot twist coming. PLOT TWIST: The Healer was working for DRAGO! OH MAN! For those of you who wonder, I had been planning that ever since I started the fic. :) Anyway, this is my FIRST update today, hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to please vote for which story to do next (poll on my profile). You don't have to, but it would be nice. :) Shout-outs: **

**amillipede: I like to believe he is dead. :) **

**PuppeteerOllie: Yep. Fine, though. In answer to your question, I've been writing for really as long as I could hold a pencil. I'm only thirteen, so I guess it really isn't that long, but...yeah. :) **

**Wanli8970: Here! You can borrow my axe! *tosses virtual axe out to you* Let's go get the Changewings! :) **

**Arcaane: Congratulations, Hiccup! You win the "Most Times Cheated Death" award! Seriously though! Stop it, Hiccup! You keep scaring all of us! AGAIN! :) **

**Nina K: Part of me has to agree with you, in all honesty. I have a few requests for stories such as those, which I will get onto writing as soon as I finish all the other requests. I'm glad to know your feedback and what you think about it. It helps me be a better writer. :) Thanks! **

**Jesusfreak: Aaaah, don't worry about it. You didn't creep me out. If anything, I'd be worried I creeped you out. I'm a little creepy sometimes, in all honesty. :) And no problem! I like having people ask me questions! It helps me to remember that people are really honestly paying attention to the story and aren't just skimming over it. :) Thanks, and no worries! I am creepy. :) **

I couldn't believe it.

I ran with all the strength I could muster in the direction of the Haddock house. I was trying to figure out how I would explain to Valka what happened, with Waen being a fake healer, and with her poisoning Hiccup with poisonous plants...I just didn't know how she would react.

I just wanted it to end. Hiccup had been through more in the past week than most Berkians did their entire lives. And (good grief!) he was only twenty! TWENTY! I couldn't imagine what the rest of his life would bring him.

[Stop guessing please, Hiccup. It's obnoxious]

I raced to the Haddock house and decided to would just let it go. Whatever I said, I would just blurt it out without thinking. Because thinking clearly wouldn't help me get my point across; only make it worse.

I swung the door open and raced up the stairs. Valka and Hiccup were in the same positions as when I'd left them, only Hiccup was laying down, Valka sitting beside him. For some reason, knowing Hiccup was still sick from poison (although beit a different cause this time) made him look more awful than earlier. Or maybe he really _did _look worse? I couldn't tell.

I yelled out the first thing that came to my mind: "Waen was fake!"

_Perfect job, Astrid, _I mentally scolded myself. _You could at least try to make some sense_.

"Who's Waen? What fake?" Valka asked, turning her attention away from Hiccup and to me.

"Waen!" I shouted lamely, mentally smacking myself. "You know that healer who gave me a hard time about hope?"

"...yeah," said Valka, her tone suspicious. "What are you talking ab..."

"She was a fake healer!" I said. "She was one of Drago's followers!"

Valka turned almost as pale as Hiccup. "How do you know!?" she shouted to me, standing up and gripping me by the shoulders much like she had done while demanding where Hiccup was.

"She...she told me!" I stuttered. Valka's green eyes mirrored Hiccup's own when he was furious, so I knew exactly when Valka was mad. "I...she tried to kill me when I found out!"

"Where is she!?" shouted Valka.

"She's..." I hesitated. "...Dead."

"DEAD!?" shouted Valka, although I could hear relief at the very back of her voice. "YOU KILLED HER!?"

"NO I DIDN'T KILL HER!" I shouted. "She fell off a cliff!"

"Why are you telling me this if she's dead?" asked Valka. "Couldn't you have at least waited until the mood brightened up a little bit?"

_Oh, Valka, I wish... _I thought.

"Because she poisoned Hiccup," I said. "...Again."

"WHAT!?" shouted Valka, releasing my shoulders and stumbling back again. "No...no no no! She couldn't have! She wouldn't have!"

"She did!" I exclaimed. "I know she did! She wouldn't lie about something like that! She wouldn't! There was no lie in her eyes, Valka! I know a lie when I see one."

_Usually_, my mind said. _You didn't catch it while she was yelling at you about hope a few days ago... _

Valka stumbled back over to Hiccup's bed and cupped his cheek in her palm, staring into his closed eyes with all the concern in the world.

"G-go get Gothi," Valka stuttered. "Hurry."

I nodded quickly and raced down the stairs and out the door. I whistled as loudly as I could to Stormfly, just hoping the dragon had heard. Luckily for me, she had. I mounted her as soon as she landed in front of me, and then turned her into the direction I wanted to go in.

We landed at Gothi's, and I barged in the door, not even bothering to knock. Gothi jumped from where she was sitting, and regarded me with a shrug as if asking "Why didn't you knock?" or "What in the world?"

"You have to come _now, _Gothi!" I shouted. "It's about the Chief."

It still seemed strange to call Hiccup "Chief." I had known him when he was still just "son of the Chief", but now he was just "the Chief." It was a little strange, even after eight months.

Gothi and I walked out and both mounted Stormfly. Gothi wasn't too thrilled with the idea, but we couldn't wait, really. We didn't have any time for waiting, stalling, or just wasting time.

I nudged Stormfly, and the dragon took off. I steered her towards the Haddock residence, and as soon as we got there, both of us dismounted and walked inside. Well, more or less. I ran. Gothi walked.

I paused at the top of the stairway before racing over. Valka was supporting Hiccup's head with one hand, forcing some peppermint-smelling whatever-it-was down his throat with the other. He was still either sleeping or unconscious, because he didn't even try to protest. Not only that, but he was dead weight in Valka's arm.

_Dead weight_.

_STOP THINKING THE WORST! _I yelled at myself mentally. I couldn't believe myself. I was being so negative! I was just as bad as Waen!

[Yes, Hiccup, that was an exaggeration. Stop talking]

I sat down on the opposite side of Valka, looking at Hiccup, my eyes welling up with tears. I pushed them back. I wasn't going to cry right now. Not when it was already bad enough.

I placed my hand on Hiccup's forehead. His fever had risen since last I checked, and it worried me greatly. Looking to Valka, I saw she was worried by that as well, amongst other things.

I stood up abruptly and raced back downstairs to fetch some water and a rag. I nearly crashed into Gothi, but that didn't matter to me. I filled a small bucket with cold water, found a cloth, and then raced back upstairs as fast as my legs would carry me.

I spilled water on the floor (not on the stairs) as I made my way up, but I didn't care about that, either. It didn't matter. I could always clean up water. Cleaning up what Waen had done under the influence of Drago? Now that would be a lot harder.

I moved back over to the bedside, finding Toothless pacing the floor with worry, feeling helpless, Gothi looking over Hiccup's injuries as well as inside his mouth (for what reasons I _didn't _want to know), Valka not even acknowledging the elder, too focused on her son.

I set the bucket down, put the rag in it, and then crossed the room, standing behind Gothi, looking over her shoulder. Either Gothi didn't notice me, or she wasn't bothered by me, because she continued working as if I wasn't even there.

When Gothi finished Hiccup's examination she stood up and grabbed her staff. She started scribbling on the floor. I never understood how people read what Gothi wrote, but I guess at that moment I was too worried to think much about anything besides Hiccup.

While Gothi did that, I grabbed the cloth from the bucket, wrung it out, and then pressed it to Hiccup's burning forehead. He shuddered and cracked his eyes open slightly, just enough for me to see just a tiny sliver of the emerald color they were.

"Ugh..." he moaned. "A-am I s-seriously sick a-again?"

I offered a smile, my eyes sad. "No," I said. "Well...kind of." I couldn't lie to him. Not when he was so desperately in need of me to be honest. "You...it's poison. You've been poisoned."

"A-again with the p-poison?" he muttered. "D-don't people e-ever just take a b-break? Getting p-poisoned is really g-getting on my n-nerves."

"Mine too, Hiccup," I said, gently brushing his bangs away from his eyes. "Me too."

Valka was looking at me and Hiccup was saddened eyes. Valka turned to read what Gothi read while I turned back to look at Hiccup. When I did, I saw his eyes were closed, his breathing evened out. He had either passed out, or fallen asleep.

Poor boy. He's only twenty and yet so far all of this had already happened to him. It was awful enough when he lost his leg. Now this? It had been enough already!

"She...she says there's nothing we can do," said Valka.

"WHAT!?" I shouted. "What do you mean there's nothing we can do!?"

"He could live or he could die, she says," said Valka. Her face was coated with shock and despair. "Is there nothing we could do!?" she shouted to Gothi. The woman shook her head sadly and then exited the house.

What just happened?

Hiccup just...he _couldn't _die. He just _could not _die. Not after all we'd done. Not after everything that had happened. Not after...everything. Not after we defeated Drago and his men and everything. He just...he couldn't.

But I didn't have control over life or death.


	20. Chapter 20

**This is my SECOND update today! We'll probably more than likely be finishing this story today, and then I can start on another one! YAY! :) Anyways, shout-outs: **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Yeah, a little hard to believe in a sense. I have a special song I wrote just for Waen: Row, row, row your boat, gently off a cliff...**

**QueenAurora: Hikkie? I like that! It's cute! :) Maybe I'll use it in a future fanfiction! :) **

**P.S: I just wanted to say that in chapter 18, I believe, Waen mentioned she used poisonous plants. Well, all those plants I mentioned are _literally _poisonous plants that literally exist. So, just used a little plant knowledge in that for no apparent reason. :) **

**Anyways, enjoy this chapter, or hate this chapter, or whatever. Do what you wish with the chapter! :) Free virtual popcorn, sodas, and candy bags of your favorite selection! *throws out to audience* I hope you enjoy. Once again, don't feel pressured about reviewing, faving or following. Although reviews make me happy, don't feel like you're forced to. :) Bye! **

YES! Astrid FINALLY let me have my say in one of these chapters! Whoop whoop! Two points for Dragon Boy!

[Don't you say a single thing, Astrid]

So...maybe I picked a bad time to be taking over. I guess it's not looking too good for me right now, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't let Astrid have all the fun.

[Oww! What was that for!?]

Besides, maybe you'd enjoy seeing things through my eyes at this moment. Of course, I wasn't conscious for a lot of it, but oh well. Such is life. Anywho, where did Astrid leave off? Oh, right...all hope was gone.

Now, I know, I know I was dying, poisoned, and on top of that, severely injured, but I still had thoughts during that time. I guess you could say that's why I wanted to take over. I may have been delirious and delusional at that moment, but I still had feelings in that time all the same. So...maybe that's why I wanted to have a turn.

Anyways, I ramble too much.

[Okay, okay, Astrid, you didn't have to agree]

The last thing I remembered before passing out again was Astrid talking to me about being poisoned. Of course, I hardly understood anything she said, but I knew even without her telling me that I had been poisoned. I'd been poisoned a fair few times in my past, so I knew what it felt like. It was awful, so I'll kindly spare you the details.

A while after that, I woke up again to Toothless. The poor dragon...I couldn't imagine what he was thinking during this time. He had nearly lost me so many times in the past...this must have just made him feel awful, since there was literally nothing he could do.

I wouldn't mind hearing Toothless' say on this, but sadly, that wasn't really possible.

Anyways, where was I?...Oh, right, the next time I woke up. The only one I saw in the room was Toothless. I guess _anyone _could have been in there, really, and I wouldn't have known. My vision swam when I opened my eyes, so I just kept them closed and stroked Toothless' muzzle weakly.

The poor Night Fury. I felt awful for him, and also felt awful in general. I didn't really know what happened...I was sure I had been cured from poison. I remembered the explosion, and then just feeling this wave of dizziness sweep over me, and I couldn't even remain standing or conscious. After that, I woke up at my house with Astrid, my Mom, and Toothless, although I couldn't really register what anyone was saying, or what was going on.

I must have passed out again, because the next time I woke up, Toothless wasn't there. It was just Mom, pressing something to my forehead, whispering incoherent words...I had no idea, to be frank.

I forced my eyes open, groaning at how much it made my head hurt just opening my eyes. My Mom looked at me with saddened eyes. Her cheeks were red, as well as her eyes. Had she been crying?

Now please don't think I was dense. I knew exactly why she had been crying; I was dying. I couldn't explain it, but I knew I was. My wound burned as if it were on fire, and my chest felt like a dragon was sitting on it (I speak, sadly, from experience).

"Hiccup?" my Mom whispered.

"Y-yeah?" I managed. Was that _my _voice? I sounded _awful_.

[Okay, Astrid, if you could _stop _agreeing to everything negative I say about myself, that would be _great..._ow! No, I will _not _give you the charcoal so you could add details about my voice! You had your turn, and now it's my turn. Yeah yeah yeah, sulk all you want. Ouch!]

She sat down on the edge of my bed and stared into my eyes. I stared right back at her, ignoring pretty much everything else.

"W-where'd T-toothless g-go?" I asked.

"Astrid took him out flying," Mom explained gently. So _that's _where both Astrid and Toothless were. I had been wondering. "Toothless didn't want to leave," said Mom. "Neither did Astrid, but I told them it would do them both some good."

I managed to nod, still feeling dizzy.

I knew what had happened, but at the same time, I didn't. I knew I had been poisoned, but I didn't know by whom. I did know and I didn't know. I know, makes about as much sense as nothing.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter," she replied. Well, to me, it kinda did, but I didn't ask again. I didn't think it mattered after all, especially with how everything was going. She lifted my chin so I could look at her better.

"Hiccup," she said, "you have to fight this. You can't give up."

Of course I understood what she was talking about. I was dying. I didn't want to give up. I wanted to tell her that, but then I was pulled back into the oblivion of unconsciousness.

The next time I woke up, Astrid and Toothless were there. I didn't manage to open my eyes again; I didn't even try. My head was spinning even with my eyes _closed_. Opening them would just make it ten times worse.

I didn't know how I knew it was Astrid and not Mom. I just knew. Toothless was nudging my limp hand, but I couldn't move my hand enough to even put it on his head. Astrid was sitting on the very edge of the bed, holding my other hand.

"Hiccup?" she whispered. I tried to respond, but I couldn't. "Hiccup, I don't know if you can hear me or not," said Astrid, "but something tells me you can. You have to fight this. Please. I can't lose you. You're the best friend I've ever had. I...I can't live without you. We need you. We all do. You won't go dying on us now, would you, Hiccup?"

I couldn't respond, but I knew exactly what she had said. I tried to pry my eyes open, but I couldn't. My body wasn't listening to my commands. I heard Astrid sob.

"Oh, Toothless," she said to the Night Fury, "I don't want him to die."

[Stop denying it, Astrid. That's _exactly _what you said. No no, stop trying to take the charcoal from me, it's _my _turn to narrate]

I was pulled back into unconsciousness.

I didn't know for how long I remained unconscious, but it must have been a while. I kept having these weird dreams. Or...they weren't _dreams_. They were _flashbacks_.

The first scene I saw was a younger version of me, when I was around fifteen, sixteen, something like that. I was running through the village, trying to keep the dragons under control.

I remembered that day; the day we had started the Berk Dragon Training Academy. It was a glorious (yet rather awkward) time.

My dream shifted, and I saw myself, standing on top of the mast of a ship. I was shouting something about metal and lightning. Oh, yeah. I remembered that day, too. The day Toothless was almost banished. The day I was struck by lightning.

It shifted again, and Astrid and I were snowboarding on our dragons. And then there was an avalanche, and we fell off a cliff. Our dragons saved our very lives. I remembered that, too. Hilarious and frustrating at the same time.

My dream changed; I was running on a rolling log, looking at Snotlout who was running beside me, smirking in my direction. Thawfest, I recalled. Not my best few days, to be certain.

It changed again, this time, I was holding my hands over my ears as Bing, Bang and Boom (or Loid, I forget which one we called him) flew in circles around the academy. Great day, really.

Once again, it changed, and I was freefalling from the sky. Toothless came in right underneath me just before I hit the ground. Ha. Dragon trust exercises with the academy. I loved those, in all honesty.

It shifted again; Snotlout and I were on Outcast Island. Snotlout was doing a tongue twister, and I was just trying to focus on finding a way out. That was the best/worst day of my life.

But then it changed again to a more recent memory; eight months ago, to be exact. The battle with Drago. The day my father...never mind.

I was holding one hand out to Toothless, begging him to stop; to snap out of it. Before it was too late. The other hand I held out to try and stop my father from doing what I knew he was likely to do.

But it didn't work. Toothless fired, my father jumped in...

I sat up and screamed.


	21. Chapter 21

**This is officially THE SHORTEST chapter in the entire fanfiction, but it's also the LAST CHAPTER in the ENTIRE faniction, so yeah... ENJOY IT! :D **

**_IMPORTANT! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS NOW!_ Okay, I would like to thank skyle1412 who pointed out to me that Chapter 20 was the same as Chapter 19. THAT WAS A TERRIBLE ERROR! I AM SO SORRY! But I fixed it now, so you can go back and read chapter 20 now. It's back to the way it should be. :) That was embarrassing of me. :) I should have checked. Thanks, skyle1412! :) **

**Enjoy the last chapter! :) **

Still me. Astrid said I could keep narrating, since she had the entire first nineteen chapters to narrate. My turn! Yay! So, where was I...oh, right:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Maybe I overreacted, but what do you honestly expect?

I didn't know what it was, but I didn't feel as awful as I had last time I woke up, but I didn't feel completely well, either. Once I finally regained my wits, I unconsciously put my hand on my wound. It didn't hurt as bad as it did before, either.

About two seconds later, Astrid, Mom and Toothless ran up the stairs. Astrid and Mom shouted "HICCUP!" and Toothless roared with them at the same time. They ran over to me, seemingly surprised. Mom wrapped her arms around me so tightly it was painful.

"Okay, Mom...watch my ribs," I said. She pulled back and held me by the shoulders.

"Right," she said, wiping tears away from her eyes although more of them just continued falling. She smiled, laughed and hugged me again. What did I miss?

Toothless licked me, and I groaned. Dragon saliva. Disgusting. But at that moment I was too overjoyed to even care. I felt like I had missed a lot, and had _been _missed even more.

Astrid came over to me, hugged me, and then pulled back and whacked me. I laughed and rubbed my forearm.

"What did I do?" I asked.

"You almost _died..._AGAIN!" said Astrid.

"Well, just one more near-death experience to add to the pile, I guess," I said, smiling. "Maybe I should keep a chart."

"Don't you think about it," Astrid laughed.

"How long was I out?" I asked, just because I wondered.

"Two weeks," said Mom.

Wait.

Two weeks?

_TWO. WEEKS!? _

"What happened?" I asked. I had been out for half a month! What went on during that time!?

"The first week you were out," said Mom, still wiping tears from her eyes, "we didn't think you'd make it at all. Every other day the healers would tell us to construct a pyre. But then the second week..."

"You actually showed signs of surviving," Astrid jumped in the conversation. "It was just this morning that the healers said you would live, and you had won over the poison."

"Yes!" I shouted with over enthusiasm. "I like it when I win!"

"Me too, Hiccup," said Mom.

"Me three," said Astrid.

Toothless whined. I laughed. He wanted attention! Silly dragon...

I whistled to him, and he jumped up and started licking me again. I laughed and tried to push him away, but he didn't listen.

Me and him had a lot in common.

Astrid told me everything that had happened while I was out; we won the battle against Drago and his men, Drago had been killed, along with many others of his men. The dead had been sent to the end of the world, the living put in Berkian prison. Eleven Berkians had died during the war. According to Astrid, they had their funeral while I was unconscious. You can't just wait two weeks for a funeral. Besides, they thought I was going to die, too.

"Thank you," said Astrid.

"For what?" I asked. "Being a useless lump?"

"No," said Astrid. "For being alive."

...

We dealt with Drago's men three weeks later, when I finally got back on my feet. Of course, I still had to take it easy, but it had been one and a quarter months since I was injured, so I was pretty much healed, anyway. Mom and Astrid refused to let me do anything too strenuous, however. Could I really blame them?

Drago's ships were still docked in our shore. I didn't know what made me do it. When people asked me what we were doing to do with the surviving soldiers, my answer astounded them all.

I decided to let them leave.

I don't know. It was probably because of my selfless nature I got from my Mom and Dad. Plus, these men would be nothing without their leader. There weren't really many survivors for them.

They left on their ships a few hours after I told the Berkians to release them. I watched the ships until they disappeared, never to come back again, never to haunt our dreams. Drago was dead, his army scattered.

Berk had withstanded the soldiers. Berk had fought well. Berk had held out. We who are living on Berk will never forget the soldiers who died on our side.

And that brings us to today, as me and Astrid are sitting at a table in the forge, sharing a charcoal pencil and one of my notebooks, recalling everything we had done. Just to make sure no one forgot. To make certain no one forgot the battle held here. To make sure no one forgot how strong Berk really was, and that there was always hope.

No matter how hopeless it seemed.

...

Okay, so I know Hiccup made the ending totally heroic, but I just wanted to add something.

[Stop groaning, Hiccup, I'm not going to ruin your ending]

The following message is for any of Drago's men:

HOW DARE YOU COME AGAINST BERK!? YOU HAD NO IDEA WHAT YOU WERE DEALING WITH! WE ARE BERKIANS! WE ARE CRAZY! WE ARE INSANE! WE ARE MANIACAL! WE HAVE THE DRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGOOOOONNNNSSS!

...

Astrid, you just ruined my heroic ending.

...

Sorry, Hiccup. Oh, wait...no, I'm not.

...

Fine, Axe-Girl. Whatever.

...

Axe-Girl? Seriously?

...

Oh, sorry, I meant Nadder Woman!

...

WHAT!?

...

You heard me.

...

Dragon Boy.

...

Axe-Girl.

...

Lizard Man.

...

Nadder Woman.

...

Night Fury Guy.

...

Reptile Girl.

...

You're hopeless.

...

Guilty as charged, milady. I'm going to at least try to end this decently: I would like to thank the Berkians for the war they fought, the good they did.

...

And I would like to kill everyone who thinks differently.

...

Why do I even bother?

_**THE END**_


	22. IMPORTANT AN

**Okay! So remember that Vote I was doing to see which story I wrote next? Well, guess what? Here are the results! :D Here we go in order from most results to least results (each tally mark equals one vote): **

**"It Comes At Night" = IIIIIIII (8)**

**"Remember Me" = IIIIIII (7) **

**"To Help Your Leader" = IIII (4)**

**"Truth or Dare" = II (2)**

**"Snowed In" = II (2) **

**"Hammerfest" = I (1) **

**"Barbarians" = I (1) **

**So that's it! "It Comes At Night" is the next one to be written! It will be removed from the poll, and the poll will continue to see which one will be written after "It Comes At Night." Remember to place your votes if you like (you can also do it in PMs, or reviews if you don't want to vote, or are a guest and can't vote). "It Comes At Night" should start to be posted later on today or tomorrow. See you then! **


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